Back to doomsday
by AFincorporated
Summary: Marina Stark is Irongirl, following her dads footsteps. Her life is crazy; Natasha Romanoff's son has a crush on her, her friends and family are all just as super as her, and now Asgard says there's a tear in time about to destroy the universe as we know it The new Avengers time travel back to the tear in reality, and meet... their twenty years younger parents? This just got weird.
1. New Avengers

**AN: This is an F story, not an A story (this is a shared account between F and A, which is why I'm clarifying). I don't own the Avengers. Please leave a review, or follow/favorite, I really love that! Thanks for reading my story.**

 **~Marina Stark~**

I was in my workshop, tinkering the way I was every day. I was trying to increase the power of the thrusters in the boots of my suit, so that I could fly higher in the atmo without icing.

My name is Marina Stark, and I'm sixteen. My mom's name is Pepper Potts. My father's name is-well, you've probably guessed. He's Ironman. Or he was, before he retired a few years ago, when I was fifteen. I had always wanted to be a hero, to be just like him, so when he retired from the heroing business, I begged SHIELD to let me take his spot on the team. They said yes.

But I had made a few changes in the last two years. The suit was dark blue, and the parts that had once been gold were now silver. It was made on the same designs as dad's suit had been, so it was the same in all other ways, except I had changed it to fit me better.

And the name wasn't Ironman anymore-it was Irongirl. I hadn't liked the girl part, but it was that or have people think of me as a guy and I wouldn't have that.

"Miss Stark, I believe there is an incoming transmission from director Fury. Should I put it on the screen?" JARVIS had taken several upgrades through the years, but he still had a british accent. He was like Alfred Pennyworth, but instead of being the Wayne's butler he was the Stark's… I don't even know.

"Sure, J. Just ruin my day, why don't you."

"Is that a yes, Miss Stark, or-"

"Put him on the screen." I sighed.

The largest screen on the wall of my workshop turned on, and director Fury's scowling eye-patched face came on. He was twenty years older then he had been when the Chitauri had attacked New York, but the only sign of age was a few gray hairs and creases around his eyes. And he was still a grump.

"Stark!" He bellowed, making me bang my elbow on the edge of the table.

"Jesus, Pirate Cap'n, what's up _your_ ass?" Fury's voice opened, but I was still annoyed. "Never mind, I don't want an answer to that question."

"Stark, shut up and listen." Fury growled, and that surprised me a little. I had seen him mad before, but not like this. It took me a minute to recognize the tinge on his voice. It was almost… fear? But that couldn't be. Whatever it was, I ought to listen.

I leaned against my work table to frown at Fury. "This is my listenin' face, old man."

"There is a disturbance, and I want the Avengers at hq right away." The screen shut off.

I scowled. "What, I put on my listening face for _that?_ "

"Will you be departing, Miss Stark? Mrs. Stark has requested that I inform her whenever you leave on a mission."

"Yeah, I'm going. This must be big, whatever the heck it is." I reattached the rocket boosters to my suit, and then snapped it on. I love that suit-it's beautiful and powerful, and it's a symbol of who I am. Like a family heirloom that shoots lasers and flies.

I shot out of the workshop and into the sky, the silver and blue metal of my suit flashing in the sunlight. It only took about twenty minutes to fly to hq, but I took a solid forty just to bother the other Avengers. I landed easily on the roof, and knew the others must be here. I'm fashionably late, or just plain _late_ if I want to be honest. Which I usually don't.

I stroll casually into the conference room with my helmet under my arm for affect. As I thought, the others are already here. Fury is standing at the end of the table in all his eye-patched glory.

"You miss me?" I grin to the whole room, and I spot a few eyerolls, which I'm fine with.

"And just when I was beginning to hope you wouldn't show up at all." Lily sighed from her seat at the table. She had a funny accent-kind of new york, but mostly that weird asgardian-sounding voice she had inherited from her father, Thor. She had also inherited his role as an Avenger. Her mom was some astrophysicist, I think… maybe her name was Jane.

Lily had big brown eyes like her mom and short blond hair, the same color as her dads. She wore dull black armor and matching boots and gauntlets. Slung over her back was an iron battle axe with a leather grip. She had a pretty face with sharp features, and sat straight in her chair. She and I didn't exactly get along.

Sitting next to her was Thomas Maximoff, tapping his foot impatiently. His mother was Scarlet Witch, but he inherited his uncle Quicksilver's powers. His dark-brown-with-blond-highlights hair stuck up at the front from wind when he ran, and he wore black skinny jeans, converse, a leather jacket spray-painted silver with a smiley face on the back in black, and a black t-shirt that read _SPEEDSTER_ on it. That's his name. He's majorly hyper-he tapped his foot, ran a hand through his hair, tilted his chair back on two legs, and scowled at Lily all at the same time. It's pretty impressive.

Sandy-haired and hazel-eyed, Jean Rogers slouched across the table from Lily. Of all of us, Jean was the only one that didn't want to be an Avenger. She had been extremely against the idea, actually. She was sketching in her notebook, and waved at me with her free hand without looking up. She wanted to go to art school, but the Avengers recruited her instead. Sometimes Fury can be a jerk. Jean's code name is Ms. America, which I've had a lot of teasing fun with. She wore a short white denim jacket, a red t-shirt with the shield symbol on the front, and skinny jeans. Jean has her dad's shield and she boxes, but she has no real powers.

Max Banner sat next to Jean, frowning at me. He's the only one of us who's a child of two Avengers-the Hulk and Black Widow. His shaggy black hair hung almost underneath his ears, and he wore a shield sports jacket, a green t-shirt, and jeans. He's not as trained as his mom, but he has the strength and endurance of his dad when he's the Hulk.

We're the Avengers. Irongirl, Lily, Speedster, Ms. America, and Tank. And none of us is older then seventeen.

I swaggered to my chair at the end of the table and plopped down in it, putting my feet up and pressing a button on the wrist of my suit. The suit started folding itself down until it was all in the glove, which I left on.

"What's the problem, Eyepatch?" I said, motioning my hand to tell him to start talking.

"We would have known twenty minutes ago if you had bothered being on time." Max muttered, but his voice was quiet, as always. I think he might just have been grumpy because we were still missing two-his best friend Jonna Barton, and Hawk, Falcon's son. I didn't know where they were.

"Well, I thought you guys deserved a break." I laughed. "I mean, without me, you'd be screwed."

"If we could get down to business." Fury said, and he wasn't asking. "Lily has brought us important new from Asgard."

"Shouldn't we wait for Hawk and Katniss?" I ask. "You waited for me."

"Which is why we cannot wait any longer." Lily snapped. "The worlds are in grave danger, not just Midguard. My own realm is in danger if we don't handle this quickly and correctly."

"Then what's the problem already?" Thomas asked impatiently. He always has to do things fast.

"The time streams are getting crossed." Lily explained. "Something powerful is tampering with the original Avengers, and if we don't stop it it will tear a hole in reality itself."

"I'm guessing that's bad?" Jean asked without looking up from her drawings. "Cause it sounds bad to me."

"Yeah, badness abounds." I agreed. "So what are we supposed to-oh. Idea."

"Idea? Hopefully a good one?" Max asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"One of dad's old-I mean I never tested it, but-I mean I checked the files and the data was good, so it could probably-"

"You mean it's a time machine?" Thomas asked excitedly. "Cool!"

"I was hoping you would have something like that, Marina." Lily gave me a grudging nod. I grinned and hopped up. I pressed the button on the back of my glove and it extended into the full suit again.

"C'mon, it's back at the tower. In the Stark family tech vault!"

 _~At the Avengers Tower~_

I led the other Avengers down the stairs to the basement of the tower. It was built right between two subway tunnels, so we heard the rumble as the cars went past. I flicked the light switch a few times, but nothing happened-I didn't come down here a lot, so the bulbs must have blown out a while ago.

I hopped off the bottom step. It was easier to move around with my suit off. Instead I wore a blue mini skirt, black leggings, a black t-shirt, and a blue hoodie.

"A little light, Ms. America?" I asked. She held up her cell phone, and the glow from the screen let me see the tech the was stuffed into the room.

The walls to the left and right were lined with shelves and had dozens of machines stacked on them. Stands stood against the back wall, full of rolled-up blueprints, and piles of notebooks and papers were scattered on the floor. Resting in the middle of the room was a largish wooden crate.

"Damn, I didn't think it would be that big. I'll have to get the suit to carry it." I groaned, but Max strode forward.

"Let me." Max said, leaning down and picking up the crate easily. He carried it under his arm, not looking even the slightest bit strained with the heavy load. "Back up to where there's light, guys."

In my workshop he plopped the crate down on the ground and pulled the top off without even breaking a sweat. Inside, surrounded with crumpled-up newspapers and packing peanuts, was a large sleek machine. Max lifted it out and set it carefully on my work table.

"Thanks, green bean." I said, pulling out my tools and popping the casing off of the back of the time machine. A piece of paper, folded as small as it could be, fluttered out. Someone had wedged it in with the circuits and machinery. Was it dad?

"What's that?" Thomas asked, and in a flash he had the paper in his hand and was unfolding it. He quickly scanned the first few lines, then looked up at us, grinning. "Have I ever told you that " _Back to the future"_ is my favorite movie?"

"Give me that." Lily snatched it away from him, and politely read it out loud. "It says; _Wassup, jerkbags? This's from the coolio herself._ " Lily looked up to raise an eyebrow at me, then glanced back down at the paper. " _And stop giving future me that look, o mighty thordaughter or whatever the hell I'm sposed call you._ "

Thomas, Jean, and I all cracked up. Lily looked like she wanted to punch me, but didn't.

" _Anyway, just leaving this note to tell you that the machine works. All you have to do is…_ " Lily ran her eyes down the paper. "Most of the rest of it if techie stuff, but there's a bit more at the bottom. _Good luck and remember: when in doubt, be as awesome as I am. Later, little ones. The master has to go._ Because you're not full of yourself at all?" She rolled her eyes at me.

"Here, give me that. I'll fix up the machine and then we can time travel." I took the note from Lily. It was all I could do to resist a happy little dance-we were going to time travel! Yes!

 _~The next day~_

"I'm sure it'll work." I grinned, wiping the engine grease on my hands off on a rag. "I had to make a few adjustments, but it can detect the time anomaly and should take us to the right time, but the same place. Might have to do some searching to figure out what exactly we're lookin' for."

"Wow, Marina." Jean was looking impressed. "You built a time machine. I can honestly say I'm impressed."

"Oh, stop." I said, pretending to blush. "Now I'm not sure exactly how this is supposed to work, so everybody just… I dunno, put a hand on it, and-"

"Shouldn't you get your suit first?" Lily said, shaking her head.

"Yeah. Everybody got everything?" I asked, picking up the gauntlet from another table and pulling it on. I tapped the button, and it extended into the full blue-and-silver suit. Jean slung her shield over her back and Lily tightened the strap of her axe. "Okay. Everybody put a hand on it." We crowded around the table so that all of us had a firm grip on the machine.

"Where do you think it is? Victorian era?" Jean asked hopefully.

"Psh, I want the fifties. They got cool hats back then." Thomas laughed.

"Fingers crossed for Camelot." Max grinned. I flipped the switch on the side of the machine, and immediately felt awful.

My ears popped painfully, like I had shot twenty thousand feet into the sky in a moment. My vision blurred and turned white. I felt like there was an anvil on my chest, so heavy that I could barely breath, constricting my lungs and my throat and making me unable even to scream. I tightened my grip on the machine because it was the only movement I could manage. I felt like I had just stuck a fork in a light socket. Then suddenly the tightness faded, my ears stopped popping, and I could see again.

We weren't in my workshop anymore. We were at least three floors higher, in the main living area.

In my time, I lived there by myself and mom and dad lived in Malibu. The floors of this area had glass floors, large windows, plush furniture, and a stainless steel kitchen. In my time, rock band posters and goth paintings from not-well-known artists hung on the wall. There were books and papers on the floor. Magazines scattered on the kitchen counter with chip bags and cupcake wrappers, and the TV was always on the disney channel.

Now everything was different. The few paintings on the walls were that of famous painters that everyone's heard of. The area was shining, clean, and uncluttered. The TV was off and all my things were gone. Some of the furniture was moved around, and everything looked a lot less… slobbish. Outside the windows, the buildings were different, though a few were familiar. But they were destroyed, singled, in rubble, smashed, and shot. Windows were smashed and people were crowded in the streets. Something had attacked New York.

"This is not what I was expecting." Lily said, frowning out the window.

Then there was a noise behind us. I turned around. Ironman, Bruce Banner, Hawkeye, Captain America, Black Widow, and Thor were standing there, staring at us like the strangest things they'd ever seen. Which we might just be.

"Oh." Max said. "Hi."

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review or follow/favorite.**


	2. wtf?

**AN: Thanks to everybody who reviewed or favorited/followed! I really love that. And if you haven't done that yet, please do.**

 **ALSO: just wanted to say that although it says in Age of Ultron that Natasha can't have kids, she and Bruce still had Max. And at this point in time in the movies, Wanda and Pietro weren't Avengers, but I'm changing it so that they are and Pietro is already dead, killed in the fight with the Chitauri.**

 **~Marina Stark~**

So this was not what I was expecting. I had kind of been hoping for a masquerade ball, though I wasn't about to say it. Instead I got my dad and a couple other superheroes giving us the ultimate _wtf?_ looks.

"Hey." I said. I still had my suit on, and Dad was staring at it. I would have to take control of this-I wasn't the official captain of the team, but I'd been reading time travel books since I was seven. "You're the Avengers, right?" That sounded really stupid.

"Um, yeah. Mind telling who the hell you are?" Dad asked. I tensed for a moment, remembering that none of the Avengers yet knew that we existed. "And how you got in?"

"We time-traveled, moron." I grinned at him. "We're from roughly twenty years in your future. This is a few days after the Chitauri attacked New York, right?"

"Time travel? That's not-" Bruce Banner started to say.

"Trust me, it is." Max said, staring at his parents with an open mouth. I reached over and shut it for him. He went a little pink, quickly pulling himself together. The captain of the team was not allowed to have his mouth hanging open.

"As I said, we're from twenty years in the future. And in the future, _we're_ the Avengers. So shut up and fetch me a soda, old man." This was how I talked to dad in the future, so I might as well sound the same way now. And usually, he talked back just the same way, both of us only joking. But that's not the way it went.

"Hey, watch who you're talking to." Dad snapped. "Don't you know who I am?"

"Actually, I know exactly who you are." I said, reaching up and pulling off my helmet. My dark brown curls tumbled down around my shoulders. I have always been told that I look a lot like my dad, but I have my mom's pale blue eyes. I tapped the button on the back of my right metal gauntlet, and my suit folded itself into the glove. I stood there in all my mini-skirted hoodie-wearing glory. I crossed my arms, still with one metal glove on, and raised an eyebrow. "Now everybody shut up while I introduce us and explain shit."

Max tried to say something about how, as leader, he should take charge, but I shook my head. I knew he was grateful-Max is a good team captain, but I could tell that meeting his parents before they had met was seriously unnerving him.

I glared at the others, and nobody seemed to want to argue with me, not even Thor. When I was a kid Thor taught me to fence, except he didn't call it fencing, he called it dueling. We would spar on the roof of my parent's house in Malibu, while my Mom laughed with Jane. At Dad's yearly parties, when we had over all the Avengers, I would hang out with the other Avenger's kids. Back then I couldn't have guessed that we would be the Avengers one day.

But now, Thor eyed me warily. Dad looked like he wanted to put on his suit and shoot at me. It was odd having your dad and all his friends not even know your name.

"Right. In the future, the Asgardians told us that there was a time anomaly. That if we didn't travel back in time and fix whatever it was, it would tear a hole in the universe. So I dug out an old project, found a note that me who-had-already-travelled-back left for future me, fixed the time machine and set it to take us to wherever the time anomaly was, and here we are. Please raise your hand if you have any questions. But be prepared for me to not answer them."

I kept talking without waiting for anyone to ask questions. "And now we get to the fun part. _Introductions!_ " The other future Avengers all looked a little nervous. Except Thomas, who was just being himself.

"Oh! I'll go first!" He shot a hand into the air and recited, "My name's Thomas and it's been seventeen years since I took a drink!"

"You _are_ seventeen, idiot." Jean grumbled. She was doodling on the leg of her pants with a silver sharpie.

"Exactly!" Thomas cackled. Lily swung her axe to hit him with the flat on the back of the head, but he jumped up and moved to sit next to his mom in an instant, just a white blur until he sat down again. I almost felt bad for Wanda Maximoff as she scooted away from him, gaping and in shock.

"Did you just-did you-" She stuttered in her thick Russian accent. "How-"

"Guys, seriously, shut your faces. I want to do this fast. Anyway, my name. I'm Marina Stark. Irongirl."

Dad looked like someone had just punched him in the face and told him he was actually a mutated space alien.

"You're-you're-how are-"

"I _said_ we're from the future, didn't I? I'm your daughter, douche-for-brains. From the friggin' future." I grinned and pulled off my metal gauntlet. "This's my Irongirl suit. I changed the design a bit to fit me better, changed the colors, and the future tech is a bit more advanced, but it's essentially the same-"

"You're my _what?_ " Dad gasped. The other Avengers looked either shocked or were trying not to laugh.

"God, I thought we covered this already. Were you not listening?"

"Who's your mom?"

"Pepper Potts. She keeps her last name, by the way, so don't even bother starting with the Mrs. Stark jokes." I say, setting my gauntlet on the coffee table. "Anyway, these are the other future Avengers. First off, this is the jerkward herself-" I point to Lily, but she interrupts me before I can introduce her the fun way.

"I'm Lily. Thor, you're my dad. Jane's my mom." Lily said, turning to her dad a little nervously.

"You mean Jane and I-" Thor starts to ask. I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, dude, congrats. This is Max Banner, Thomas Maximoff, and Jean Rogers." I say, blurting out the names in a rush.

So naturally that took a while to explain.

Once everyone was over the fact that Bruce and Natasha got married and had a kid, and that the rest of them had kids, too, and we had to explain that there were two other Avengers that hadn't come with us (Hawk, and Jonna "Crackshot" Barton, who had been on another mission when we'd been called for this one), the past Avengers finally asked about our powers.

"What are your powers, then? Did you, like inherit… ours?" Dr. Banner asked uncomfortably. He and Natasha were distinctly avoiding eye contact.

"No. Well some of us, anyway." I said. "I got the smarts. And the looks, so I'm assuming that part of the Stark genes just kind of skipped a generation when it got to you, dad." I said with a smirk. Thomas sniggered.

"I don't have any powers." Jean volunteered. "But I got the fancy shield, and I take good as I get. But no powers is probably one of the reasons I didn't _want_ to be an Avenger…."

"They made you become a superhero even though you didn't want to be?" Steve said, sounding concerned and giving the rest of us angry looks.

"We didn't make her." Max said, his voice calm and quiet as usual. "Fury called one day and said we had a new Avenger. It wasn't exactly what we were dreaming of either. Wanted her to go to art school just as much as she did."

"Yeah." I agreed. "I wanted her to paint more stuff. She's good."

"You paint?" Steve asked curiously.

"Yeah. I was going to go to art school before SHIELD made me become an Avenger." Jean said wistfully.

"We tried to convince Fury to let her leave, of course." Lily said, shaking her head. "But he wouldn't listen to reason. He wouldn't even listen to you, Steve,"

"What about the rest of you?" Dr. Banner asked, looking curiously at Max.

"I got the super strength and invulnerability, but not the green rage monster part of the deal." Max explained. "And Mom has trained me in martial arts. I'm not as good as she is, of course, but I'm pretty good. And I got straight A's in school, so I get the fun role of backup techie."

"Your mom tried to give you a gun, too," I cackled. "But Banner said no. That was a funny argument. Master assassin or green rage monster! Who will win? I was going to get popcorn, but I didn't have the time."

"I have the basic Asgardian fighting skills. And a big axe." Lily said. I snickered, and she glared at me. "But no special powers, other then I'm really strong and fast. But that's just called behind in shape."

"I got mad skills!" Thomas grinned. "Plus super speed, and a mild resistance to magic."

"And that's all!" I said, grinning and shoving my hands in my pockets. "Irongirl, Tank, Speedster, Lily, and Ms. America. The Avengers!"

"I can't believe our kids become superheroes." Natasha said, shaking her head.

"Not voluntarily." Jean grumbled.

"I know, isn't it great!" Thomas cheered. Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

"Anyway, we have to find this time anomaly thing before the universe blows up. Any ideas what that could be?" I ask hopefully. Nobody says anything. "Thanks for the help, geniuses."

"I could probably help build something to detect the time anomaly." Dr. Banner offered, tugging on each of his fingers in turn uncomfortably.

"I can help with that." Max offered, eyeing his dad nervously. Dr. Banner offered a nod-half grateful half nervous. They had the same eyes, which seemed to unnerve Dr. Banner. "Marina, we could use your-"

"Sorry, no. Between time travel and Fury yelling, I'm getting a _serious_ migraine." I said, rolling my eyes back in my head. "There's only one thing that can solve this. Any guesses, my poor pathetic little students?"

"Don't say-" Lily started, but I grinned.

"Shopping and pizza! Cures what ails ya. Somebody get this girl a credit card!" I cheered. I pointed at Dad. "Fetch me some plastic, I left mine back twenty years from now." He didn't argue, still kind of dazed from finding out he had a daughter, just handed over a platinum card. "Ooh, shiny. Lils, Tom, you wanna come while Max does his work thing?"

"You're going to give me a makeover again. Aren't you." Thomas groaned, shuddering. "I'm still in therapy from the last time!"

"Oh, you lie. You looked great. And I really liked the pink hair look. It was great with your eyes, darling." I said, wiggling my fingers at him. He moaned again and slid down a little farther on the couch. "The heels went so well with your dress."

"Stop! Please! My PTSD is spiking…"

"Are tweedledee and tweedledumbass done yet?" Lily scowled.

"I call being tweedledee." I said just before Thomas could.

"Our children are very strange." Thor frowned. Then he eyed Lily. "And mine is very _rude._ "

"Oh yeah! Thor smackdown!" I cheered, and Thomas sped across the room and back to his seat to high five me. Lily glared at us, her cheeks red. "Anyway, you're welcome to come. So are the rest of you."

"Reality might be about to explode, and you want to go shopping?" Romanoff demanded. "You're good enough to have modified your dad's Ironman suit-"

"Irongirl."

Romanoff kept talking, ignoring my interruption. "So shouldn't you be helping with the machine to track down the time anomaly?"

"Technically. But I'm not so good at doing what I'm told. I think it might be genetic or something. Anyway, Max and Jean can handle it. I talk tech, but Max knows theoreticals better. Jean's great at pointing out when he's doing something stupid. And you need theoretical physics to find time junk, not making-stuff-explode skills." I said, and Max nodded in acknowledgement of the praise.

"I'm touched." He murmured. He's a pretty quiet guy-only speaks when spoken to. Of all the future Avengers, he's the only one who's totally sure of himself. He's kind of like our rock-no matter what's going on, he still has the same calm voice and determined face. Max Banner's not as arrogant as Lily, as excitable as Thomas, as uncertain as Jean, or as temperamental as… well, me. He glanced at his parents nervously. "I can hold the fort here. Just bring me back a souvenir."

"Will do, cap'n." I said, jumping up from the couch and tucking Dad's credit card in my pocket. At Captain America's confused look, I explained. "He's the captain of the Avengers in the future. Though I still think it should've been me."

"You once drove a ferrari into the side of a McDonalds because the service was too slow." Jean pointed out, raising one eyebrow at me. Dad laughed.

"I like this kid!" He cheered, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Future mom didn't listen when you said that, unfortunately." I said, shaking my head sadly. "She just grounded me. Such a pity."

"I see the family resemblance." Steve said drily. "You're just like your dad."

"I'm pretty sure you meant that as an insult, but I'm going to pretend it wasn't. Anyone else want to go shopping while the Banner family and Pops here work on the time anomaly detector?"

Nobody volunteered, which I took to mean _yes, Irongirl! We would love to help you shop!_.

"Great, we're all going then." I said, grinning. "Is the mall still standing after those aliens of yours? History isn't exactly my best class."

"It's still there. It was out of the main fire from the Chitauri," Thor said.

"Great. Now let's go shopping."

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review or favorite/follow. Any questions or constructive criticism is welcome.**


	3. Shut up, Jean!

**AN: I don't own the Avengers.**

 **~Max Banner~**

I was really nervous when Marina left Jean and I alone with the past Avengers. Stark, Dad (Bruce Banner), and Steve stayed behind with us. I got the feeling that Steve wanted to talk to Jean, and Dad might be hoping to talk to me. Which I had been hoping to avoid, so thanks Marina.

Stark led us to his lab. I knew the way around-in our time, this was Marina's house, and the lab was the one thing she hadn't changed too much. The furniture was the same, and though the computers weren't as advanced and the punk rock posters Marina loved weren't hung yet, but mostly it was the same lab. Same messy piles of papers, same holographic designs, same tools stacked everywhere.

"Hey, this lab isn't so different." Jean said, glancing around and voicing my thoughts. "It's pretty much the same."

" _Sir, might I inquire as to the identity of our guests? They are not in any SHIELD database."_ The metal computer voice echoed from the ceiling. It was JARVIS.

"Hi, JARVIS." Jean called up. She glanced at the confused past Avengers. "Marina still has him in the future. You gave him to her for her fourteenth birthday. She used his schematics to hack into her middle schools computers and delete her permanent record."

"Yeah, she's definitely Stark's kid." Bruce said drily, sorting through a filing cabinet.

"Yeah, she is." I said, leaning against a wall and sticking my hands in my pockets.

Jean started humming something, and if she had been singing the words would've been, _Max and Marina, sitting in a tree…_ I shot her a glare to shut up. She smiled softly and found a notebook abandoned on a table.

"Mind if I borrow this?" She asked, glancing at Stark.

"Go ahead," Steve answered for him, surprisingly. I guess he wanted to see her art. It really is too bad Fury wouldn't let her go to art school-she's very good, and she would be even better if she hadn't been forced to be an Avenger.

"Thanks." Jean said, finding a seat and pulling a black pen out of her pocket.

I started thinking out loud, ideas for finding the time anomaly. "So for a time anomaly detector, we have to go through the fourth dimension, and the easiest way to do that might be Einstein's equation for gravity times the value of the approximated pull of the anomaly. A wavelength generator, with a jolt from the power grid, which Marina could hack for us, and then all we'd have to do-" Everyone was staring at me.

My face went pink. I ran a hand through my hair to hide my face and turned away a little bit, finding something interesting to look at on the table in front of me. "Or we could, I dunno, try something else…."

"No, those're good ideas," Dad said, still looking a little surprised. "How old did you say you were?"

"He's sixteen." Jean spoke up for me. "Our little genius. Graduated from college… two years ago, right, Max?"

"Um, yeah," I said uncomfortably. "Anyway, we should work on the detector."

We all got to work. I worked on the math of the equations with Dad's help, Stark worked on the machinery itself, and Jean and Steve got things for us. Well, Steve did mostly-Jean spent a lot of her time drawing. It must be something good.

"So, Max," Dad said uncomfortably. I winced internally. This would not be fun. "In the future… what are things like?"

"Um, good. You and Mom have a house in upper New York. It's pretty nice. I live at a SHIELD facility, working in the labs there… and I get called in on Avengers missions sometimes, like this one." I said.

"What was that Jean was humming earlier when you mentioned Marina?" Dad asked, pretending to double check one of his equations. He knew. My face turned red.

"Um, nothing."

"So are you two-"

"No." I said quickly. "Actually I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention any of that to her… she's doesn't… doesn't actually know…."

"Marina doesn't know Max has a crush on her." Jean said in a helpful tone that was not at all helpful. "I keep saying he ought to tell her, but _he_ seems to think-"

" _Thank you_ for your input Jean, please shut up now." I said, knowing my face was bright red.

"Excuse me, what are your intentions for my daughter?" Stark asked, looking over from what he was working on. Even Steve seemed to have heard what we were talking about.

"Can we please not talk about this? Please?" I groaned.

"Now, now, Max. You have to get her father's blessing before you propose." Jean giggled without looking up from her drawing.

"How are things going with… what's his name? Paul?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her. Jean glared at me, then hid her face behind her notebook.

"Shut up. And since you asked, _amazing._ "

"So you haven't actually _talked_ to him yet, then."

"How are things going with that equation, Banner?" Jean growled. Dad and I glanced at each other.

"Which Banner?" Dad asked nervously.

"The annoying one." Jean said, shooting another glare at me.

"Wait, who's Paul?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I want to meet Paul." Stark said. "But let's talk about Marina."

Jean and I exchanged a _thanks a lot, pal_ look. "You know, I think if we boosted the power here, it would seriously add to the wavelength generator's recoil potential." I said, turning back to the whiteboard. Jean looked down at her notebook. The grown ups took the hint.

 _This has already been humiliating, awkward, and worrying. And we've only been here for two hours,_ I thought miserably. I hoped things were more fun at the mall, and that Marina hadn't gotten the other Avengers in too much trouble yet.

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review, or follow/favorite! Thoughts on the possible pairings, please? What do you think of the Maxina ship possibility? I'm still considering it. Later!**


	4. Shopping with a Stark

**AN: I don't own the Avengers! A big thanks to the people who have favorited/followed. Extra special thanks to** _ **Sameen Hadiya**_ **and** _ **A1m0st1sN3v3En0ugh**_ **for being the first to review! If you haven't reviewed yet, please do, or follow/favorite!**

 **~Lily Foster~**

The mall was surprisingly full of people. I guess the end of the world really makes people think, _Hey! I should shop!_. I pushed through the crowd with the others, and as always felt different.

Imagine standing in a line with a thousand people and knowing that you're not like them and never will be. That's what it's like to be me. The other future Avengers embrace that, in their own ways. They like being heroes, but for me it's not just that-I'm half Asgardian. I'm not even _human_. I'm nothing like other people, and sometimes that feels odd. Like I'm detached.

Marina strode through the crowd proudly, and people parted for her. She shot people a bleach-blond boy a dazzling grin, and he stared after her in a daze once she had passed. Sometimes it's annoying that Marina stopped caring about what people think of her a long time ago.

Thomas had no trouble with the crowds, he just ran around them. The future Avengers were mobbed with fans, and I felt like pointing out to Dad that if he hadn't worn a red cape he would draw less attention. Except I was carrying an axe and dressed in full body armor, so I couldn't really talk.

Marina noticed the fans and found a store on the end of the mall that was almost empty of people. It was a bunch of stuff for superheroes, TV shows, books, and movies. She went straight to a rack of Ironman bobbleheads.

"What do you think? Good fathers day present?" She laughed. "I'm used to seeing my face on the shelves in stores like this-kind of nice for the change."

"I know what you mean." Thomas said, pointing to a poster of Scarlet Witch. "But I kind of like having my own merchandise."

"You would." I mumbled, raising an eyebrow at tiny mjolnir erasers. I wandered away from the others, looking at posters and trivia books. Dad followed.

"Why do you not like your teammates?" He asked quietly.

"What makes you think I don't?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You are not kind to them. You must not like them."

"I like them alright… I just don't think they're the best heroes to be protecting the world in our time. Marina's in all the tabloids for crazy stunts. Thomas is hyper 24-7. Jean doesn't even want to be an Avenger in the first place. Max is the only other one who takes it seriously, but he's smart and strong. Not into fighting." I scowled at a rack of Captain America t-shirts. "We're just not a good team. We never were. Sometimes I think earth might actually be _safer_ if the Avengers Initiative had ended with you guys."

Dad frowned. "I think that you underestimate them. They are probably stronger then you give them credit for."

"You don't know them as well as I do. They're just not into it. And I don't blame them-we're sixteen, we shouldn't be superheroes. But we are."

"What do you think?" Suddenly Marina was at my shoulder. She held up a t-shirt that said, " _It's not easy being green"_. "Good present for Banner?"

Thor grinned, and I cracked a smile. "He'll love it, right?" Thomas whooshed over to stand in front of us.

We bought the shirt and left the store again. The mob of fans seemed to have forgotten about us, so we moved from store to store. Marina managed to chain Thomas to a chair in the hair salon long enough for him to get his hair cut.

We didn't know how long we'd have to stay in this time, and we hadn't brought clothes with us, so we had to go shopping for all the future Avengers. Which took almost three hours. By the time we had things for everybody, I wanted to pass out.

I'll say one good thing for her-Marina Stark rules the mall. Over the course of the day, she dragged us from one end of the mall to the other three times, stopped in fifteen stores, and was carrying six shopping bags by the time she was done.

"Okay." I groaned. "I need a food court." Everyone agreed. We found it at the other end of the large mall, and everybody bought food from a different store. I got a cheeseburger, Marina had Italian (or the crappy food court version), Thomas found sushi, Natasha and Wanda had starbucks, Clint got tacos, and Dad found subway.

Once we all had food, we looked for a table where all of us could sit, but the biggest tables were already filled. So the future Avengers and the past Avengers split to two tables a few rows away from each other. Thomas, Marina, and I collapsed at our table.

Only Marina had the energy to talk.

"I think this was a good days work." She said approvingly. "There's enough clothes for us future Avengers to stick around as long as we have to, and I got Bruce a present." She pulled out the _It's not easy being green_ t-shirt.

Everything pointed to us going the whole day without something going wrong. I had been expecting somebody to screw this up, and I was just starting to get my hopes up, when everything went down the tube.

It started with a couple of teenage guys hanging out in the foodcourt noticing Marina and I. _Oh crap,_ I thought as they elbowed each other and then walked towards us. _Not now._

"Hey beautiful," A guy with blond hair said, leaning against the table and eyeing Marina. "What's your name?"

"Get lost, loser." Marina said, rolling her eyes and taking a sip of soda. These guys couldn't take a hint.

"Feisty, I like it." He said, with what obviously was meant as a charming smile. Marina rolled her eyes.

"Did it hurt?" A brown-haired guy around my age said, grinning at me. "When you fell from heaven."

"No…" I said, glaring at him. "But it will hurt when my fist meets your face."

"I'd listen to them, boys." Thomas said, shaking his head sagely. "They are fully prepared to kick your asses."

"What do you say we ditch this loser and go have some _real_ fun?" Blond guy said to Marina, grinning and jerking his head towards Thomas.

Over at the other table, our parents had noticed what was going on, but I didn't want their help. And neither did Thomas and Marina.

"Say that again," Marina glared, eyes flashing with anger. "Go ahead, say it."

The past Avengers were walking towards us.

Blond guy clearly had no idea where Marina was going with this. He dumbly repeated his words. "What do you say we ditch this loser and have some real fun?"

Marina nodded to Thomas, and suddenly Thomas's sushi rolls were smeared all over Blond guy's face. Thomas was already back in his seat. Blond guy stumbled back, wiping the rice out of his eyes.

"You did that, didn't you you little-" Blond guy growled at Thomas, who shrugged but was clearly trying not to grin. "You did!" Blond guy reached behind him and grabbed a plate of spaghetti from the table behind him. He chucked it at Thomas, but Maximoff sped out of the way and appeared sitting next to me, and the spaghetti hit one of his friends.

"What's the big idea, man?" His friend shouted.

Marina picked up a piece of her four cheese and pepperoni pizza, and shook her head. "It's sad that such an innocent piece of pizza had to come to such a sad end. Oh, well." She smacked Blond guy in the face with it.

I threw my french fries at the brown-haired guy and splattered his hair with ketchup. He yelled and threw onion rings at me. All around us, other teens were joining in with the fight. Marina climbed onto the table, holding a rolled-up paper french fry wrapper to her mouth.

" _Food fight!_ " She yelled, and the entire food court erupted into chaos. Burritos and enchiladas hit people in the head, hamburgers and ketchup littered the floor, soda was dumped on people's clothes, and everything was pandemonium. Marina stood on the table, throwing pizza at any guy who got close to her, cheering and laughing.

A few tables away, someone climbed up onto their table and held a lighter up to a sprinkler, surrounded by cheering kids. The sprinklers turned on, and everyone was soaked. We were surrounded by shouting and food flying through the air, and now we were wet.

The past Avengers ran up to us. "What did you do?" Romanoff shouted.

"Don't look at me!" Thomas shouted to be heard in the chaos. "Those guys started it! They wouldn't leave Marina and Lil's alone! They had it coming!"

"We could've handled them without you starting a foodfight!" I yelled.

"Actually, I think he did great! But now might be the time to run before security arrives!"

Blond guy appeared next to her. "C'mon, babe, let's go somewhere we can be alone." _Damn, this guy is an idiot._

Marina punched him in the face. Thomas cheered. " _Call me babe again and you'll sing soprano for a week!_ " Marina yelled, and I laughed at the look on the guy's face from where he sat on his ass on the floor. I couldn't blame him-Marina looked dangerous, even when soaking wet and covered in food.

Someone grabbed my arm and dragged me away. It was Dad. Romanoff was pulling Marina down, and Wanda was dragging Thomas. Clint grabbed our soaking wet shopping bags and followed the rest of us. We were marched out of the chaotic food court, and out of the mall to the car. Clint drove, and the other Avengers glared at us as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"That was awesome!" Thomas cheered. "But I wanted to be the one to punch him!"

"I did it first!" Marina cackled. "Oh my gods, that was the greatest."

"You are all so immature!" Wanda snapped. "That was awful! I thought you were supposed to be superheroes."

"We are." Marina insisted. "But those guys were asking for it. We didn't know it would go all-out."

"That was irresponsible." Dad snapped.

"Can I say something?" I interrupted. They all gave me looks like, _well go ahead, then._ "That _was_ irresponsible, but those guys had it coming. They were really being awful. So admittedly we could've handled it better… but once you know Marina and Thomas as well as I do, you'll understand that that could've gone a _lot_ worse. For them this was self-control."

Marina and Thomas both shot me a glare.

"That's really helping, Lils." Marina snapped. "Thanks a lot."

"You have to admit, though…" Thomas said slowly. "That was kind of fun."

To my surprise, it was Clint who spoke up for us. "I'm pretty impressed. Those guys had it coming. And we got away before security came, didn't we? No permanent problem?"

"He's right," Romanoff nodded. I was really surprised that they were sticking up for us, but I was grateful.

We spent the rest of the drive to the tower in quiet. Thomas, Marina, and I were busy staring out the windows at the partly destroyed city. It was strange to see rubble and shattered glass everywhere. There were scorch marks on the road and overturned cars piled in alleys. I couldn't believe how different it looked.

We finally parked at the Avengers tower and carried our bags inside. Jean and Max were talking casually with Stark, Bruce, and Steve. When they saw us, they all stared. Except for Stark, who burst into laughter.

I guess we must've looked pretty terrible-we were soaking wet and splattered with food.

"Have fun, huh?" Jean asked, staring at us.

"They started a riot." Dad said, maybe still a little angry.

"Hey, we did not _start_ that fight." Marina said, then grimaced. "Well, we kinda did, but those guys were asking for it! And it wasn't a riot, it was a food fight. There's a difference."

Now most of the ones who had stayed at the tower were laughing. Max used one hand to cover his grin and took a bag out of Marina's hands. "Come on, you're digging your own grave."

All of us had to shower and change. I was glad to be in street clothes instead of my armor-a blue tank top, converse, and shorts. Marina found jeans, a white Stark Industries t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans. Thomas put on jeans and a black _Speed Demon: Hot Rod Shop_ t-shirt.

We regrouped in the living area-the same one with glass floors and attached to the kitchen.

It was around then that Pepper Potts got home.

The future Avengers were lounging on the couches, flipping along the channels on the TV. Jean was drawing, Max was changing parts of his equation, Thomas was on his back with his legs over the back of the couch looking at the TV upside down, and Marina was chugging a soda.

The past Avengers were scattered around the building, but a few of them were there. Then the door of the elevator opened, and Pepper walked in. She had straight strawberry blond hair in a ponytail, bright blue eyes, a freckled and beautiful face, and wore a suit and skirt.

"Tony?" She called when she saw the five strange teenagers in her living room. "Tony, what's going on?"

"Oh, Pepper." Tony said, jogging in. "So, these guys are the Avengers twenty years in the future. And, there's someone that I want you to meet."

Marina stood up and walked over. When she stood by her parents, I could see how she had her dad's hair and her mom's eyes and face. Pepper stared at her. "Hi, mom." She said nervously. "I'm your daughter Marina Stark, from the future. I'm Irongirl."

Pepper fainted.

Tony caught her. "That went well!"


	5. Hurricanes and Shawarma

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. Please leave a review or follow/favorite! Thanks for reading my story, everybody. If you haven't already, check out some of my other stories through my profile!**

 **~Marina Stark~**

The morning after our first day in the past, I woke up before anybody else. I had fallen asleep on the couch watching movies with Jean and Thomas last night. Meaning I had serious morning breath and needed a shower and clean clothes.

I kicked a blanket someone had laid over me off my legs and stumbled to the room I was supposed to have slept in. I showered and found clean clothes (a white longsleeve crop-top with the Stark Industries logo on the front and skinny jeans), combed out my hair as best I could and tied it in a high ponytail.

It was nice to be in the tower when I was the only one awake. Gray early-morning light shone through the windows, and the only sound other then me was the sound of cars on the streets below and the occasional helicopter overhead.

It was like being back in our time, when I had the tower to myself. It was quiet and calm, and I could do whatever I wanted until Fury called me on a mission. It could be a little lonely sometimes, but it was nice to have the place to myself.

I walked into the kitchen and nearly had a heart attack. Max was leaning against the counter, sipping a mug of tea and scrolling through something on his phone. I squeaked, and he glanced up from his phone.

"Morning, Marina." He said calmly. How the heck was he never surprised by stuff?

"Morning, Max. Um… didn't think you were up?"

He laughed. "Sorry if I scared you. I like waking up early-and it was hard to sleep. I mean, we're in a whole different time! We shouldn't even be alive, but here we are!"

"When you say it like that, it sounds a whole lot less boring." I sighed. "All I've gotten to do here was start a riot in the mall."

"I thought you said it was a food fight?"  
"Between you and me, it's debatable." I snorted. My stomach growled. "They have food in this place?"  
"Plenty in the fridge." Max said, nodding. I pulled it open and made a face. "What?"

"It's all healthy stuff!" I gagged. "Where's my ice cream, my pizza, my chinese takeout?" I opened a cabinet. "My poptarts! There's no lucky charms or microwave waffles!" Max started cracking up. I glared at him. "This is not funny. I am serious here, man. I need junk. It's a serious dietary restriction. I can't eat healthy."

Max grinned and set down his tea. He opened a bottom drawer and revealed chips, candy, sugary cereal and even hot cocoa mix. "They might be grown-ups, but the past Avengers are still human. They keep the junk in here."

"Thank god. You're a wonder twin." I said, pulling out a box of Froot Loops with Frooty Shaped Marshmallows! and pouring myself a bowl. I hopped up onto the counter and sat criss-cross applesauce.

Steve walked into the kitchen, yawning. "Good morning, guys."

"Hi. By the way, you realize that you don't have any soda?" I said. Steve looked surprised.

"Stark keeps the soda in a special mini fridge in his lab. But you really shouldn't be having soda with breakfast. It's very bad for-"

"Great thanks bye." I said, grabbing Max and dragging him out of the kitchen and down the hall.

"Why do I have to come?" Max groaned, but he was happy.

"To carry the mini fridge. I'm not doing it."

We found the mini fridge under a table in Stark's lab. It was stocked with everything from mountain dew to rootbeer. And actual beer and wine, but that wasn't what I wanted. I unplugged the fridge and Max picked it up like it was a pillow. We took it back to the kitchen where Jean, Thomas, and Natasha had joined Steve, and plugged it back in on the counter.

"There!" I said, clapping my hands. "Soda equality for all! And now I can eat breakfast."

I took out a coke and poured it onto my cereal, sitting back down on the counter. "There. Yum-yum. Why are you all making that face? It's part of this nutritious breakfast!" I pointed at the bowl.

"That's not nutritious. I'm not even sure that's a breakfast." Jean said, wrinkling up her nose as I took a big bite. It tasked pretty good.

"You sound like Fury. No fun at all." I said, shaking my head. "It's almost sad."

"Can I try that?" Thomas asked. One moment he was standing at the other side of the kitchen, but then with a blur he was standing next to me, taking a bite of my cereal and soda.

"Hey!" I protested with a mouth full of cereal, holding my bowl out of his reach. "Stop being grabby, it's mine!"

"Sharing is caring, Mar." Thomas pouted. He ran to the fridge and pulled out everything for waffles. "I'll make my own." He tossed the eggs to Jean, who caught them expertly and cracked them, pouring them into a pan. Thomas sprinted from one part of the kitchen to another, stirring flour and sugar and butter at super-speed. Jean poured her eggs into his bowl, and Thomas poured the batter onto the waffle iron.

"Oh, right, make me look bad." I rolled my eyes, taking another bite of soda and cereal.

"You did that on your own, Marina." Max said apologetically.

"Your breakfast is the reason why I have no appetite." Natasha said, expressionless. Well, does she ever talk any way other then expressionless? I don't really think so.

"Everyone's a critic. You're _all_ boring as Fury." I said, shaking my head.

"Especially me." A low slightly angry-sounding voice came from the doorway of the kitchen. It was Fury. He had the same eyepatch, the same long dark jacket, same bald dark-skinned head, same scowl. Jeez, in twenty years hadn't the guy ever changed his clothes?

Mom and Dad came in behind him, both looking annoyed that he was there.

"Rogers, what the hell is going on here?" Fury asked, his one good eye fixing on Steve. "I come to send the Avengers on a mission and a find a bunch of kids camped out in your kitchen?"

"Actually," I said, having quickly swallowed by food. "Oh no, wait a sec." I tilted my head back and drank the coke out of the bottom of my cereal bowl, holding up a finger to tell Fury to wait. "Okay." I set the bowl down and licked my lips. "Damn, that's pretty good. Anyway, we _are_ the Avengers. Just from the future. We time-travelled here from twenty years ahead just yesterday."

"Is that so?" Fury asked, voice dangerous. "Then why don't you tell me who you are?" He sounded almost mocking.

"Marina Stark, Irongirl. And in my time, your nickname is Pirate Captain." Fury glowered at me.

Max appeared next to me, gently tugging at my arm and pushing me behind him. "What she means is that we know you in our time. And we are the children of the Avengers that you know-we become the Avengers in our time. I'm Tank-Max Banner, son of Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff. I have super strength and invulnerability, inherited from my dad. This is Ms. America, Jean Rogers. Speedster, Thomas Maximoff. And Lily Foster, daughter of Thor, is still asleep. We're the future Avengers."

Max stood in front of me, silently telling me to shut my trap. I like sassing Fury-it's always fun, because he never yells, he's just silent angry. And it's not like he's about to shoot me.

Fury's good eye flicked between each of us in turn, sizing us up. When his gaze landed on me, he growled, "I see the family resemblance." I waved at him.

"What was the mission you were going to send us on?" Natasha asked.

"If it's something important, the future Avengers will be fine on their own without us." Wanda said in her Russian accent. All the Avengers were now packed in the kitchen, and it was getting a little cramped. We moved to the living room, and the future Avengers collapsed on the couches. Lily came downstairs, and we quickly filled her in.

"We can help on your mission!" Lily said eagerly. "We go on them all the time!"

"Yeah, I don't want to stick around here all day." I said. "I mean, it pains me to agree with Lils, but we should get to go."

Fury thought about it for a moment. "I think that you should go. But without the past Avengers. I want to see what you can do in combat without help."

The past Avengers started protesting. "They're just kids!"

"We can't send them without us!"

"It's too dangerous for them."

"Hey!" I called, shutting everyone up. "Unless you forgot, we're Avengers, too. We're future Avengers. We've faced a lot of crap, just like you guys, so we'll be fine without you. Right, guys?" Max nodded, and Thomas high-fived me. Jean actually nodded, too, and she usually wasn't enthusiastic about heroing. Lily gave a thumbs up.

"I also want to be able to watch while you complete the mission. Stark, they'll need the-"

"Stark-cam lenses?" Dad said with a grin. "Those are always fun!"

"And painful to wear," I groaned. "They make my eyes water."

Stark-cam lenses were like compact lenses, but with a tiny camera built in. They connected to one of Dad's computers so that the past Avengers could see everything one of us saw while we went on the mission.

"I can wear them." Jean offered. "They don't bug me." Dad nodded and lead Jean away to put in the Stark-cam's, while the rest of us suited up.

We don't really have fancy costumes. Lily and I are the only ones who dress up fancy; I have my suit, flashy silver and dark blue. Lily wears her obsidian armor and uses a freaking battle axe, but the other future Avengers don't really have official costumes.

Thomas wore his leather jacket spray-painted silver, black running shoes and black jeans, and a white t-shirt. Nothing special, except the infamous "comicon goggles". I made him dress up steampunk when I dragged him and Jean to comicon last year, and he really liked the leather-and-gold steampunk goggles. So now he wears them when we fight crime. I kid you not.

Jean wore a denim jacket, a red t-shirt with her dad's shield symbol on the front, skinny jeans, and steel-toed boots. She slung the Rogers family shield over her back and pulled on red-and-black fingerless gloves, like the kind you'd wear to ride a motorcycle.

Max put on his shield jacket, a green t-shirt, jeans, and converse. He was the only one whose costume was exclusively normal clothes, which I thought seemed to match his personality very well-kind of quiet, but stronger then he's given credit for.

Once Jean's Stark-cam was connected to Dad's big screens properly, we headed out.

The mission was actually pretty simple-the police had gotten a tip that an armored car was going to be robbed somewhere along it's route, and Fury thought the attackers might be powered.

So pretty much the job was to run alongside a truck to see if it went boom.

This would be fun.

Jean borrowed her dad's motorcycle, and followed behind the truck by about a block, so whoever was pulling the job wouldn't notice her. Thomas ran alongside it, just a blur so that nobody saw him. Lily sat in the cab with the driver, and Max and I hid in the back of the truck with the money.

It was painful to sit in the back with no seats. Every time the truck turned we were thrown against the sides and we bounced painfully on the metal floor so that I thought Lily must have convinced the driver to try and kill us.

After almost an hour of driving, the truck suddenly stopped and Max and I were thrown around again. I tapped the glove of my suit and it extended into full suit form, and Max shifted to face the door.

The doors were blasted open, and before I could react a machine gun was fired into the back of the truck. I felt the bullets hit the suit, but thankfully none of them went through or damaged anything important. The bullets glazed off Max, leaving only small scratches.

"Nice try," I called, leaping out of the back of the truck and twisting the gun out of the man's hand. "But no dice."

Max jumped out after me, grinning. That was easy.

Then there was a laugh from above us, and we both turned. Standing on top of the armored car was a guy in all black leather. He wore a blood-red domino mask, and eyes as dark as obsidian flashed from behind it.

He held out his hands, and a miniature hurricane formed in them. He pulled his hands apart slowly, and the hurricane got bigger. Then he dropped his hands to his sides, and the hurricane blasted outward, sending me flying backward with a blast of dust and debris.

There was screaming and yells, a bang and the sound of rubble exploding… I struggled to sit up, trying desperately to keep from falling unconscious. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side, there was an explosion, and I finally got my feet under me again. I screwed up my eyes and my vision sharpened again.

It was chaos.

The hurricane sat in the middle of a busy New York City street. Cars and people were flying around overhead, caught in the winds. There was screaming as the occasional car was thrown outward, nearly hitting people.

I had to focus. Jean was holding me up, her shield raised above her head, deflecting chunks of concrete and shards of metal that flew towards us.

"Thanks!" I shouted. She just nodded. I pulled myself out of her grip and shot upward into the sky, the familiar feeling of the wind around me calming me down. The man in the middle of that hurricane needed to be stopped. And how did you stop a hurricane?

No idea.

"JARVIS!" I screamed, and the british-accented metal-voiced AI immediately spoke in my helmet. "System's check!"

"We are still at 87% capacity, Miss Stark."

"Google, "how to stop a tornado"!"

"The most reliable article states that it might be done by running around the bottom of the hurricane in the opposite direction at a fast enough speed."

I had to find Thomas. I spotted him below, carrying people out of the destruction. I shot down and landed by him. "Thomas, opposite spin!"

Luckily he understood, and with a quick nod started sprinting around the hurricane in the opposite direction of the wind as fast as he could. While he did that, I had to find the others…

 **~Natasha Romanoff~**

Things weren't going well for the past Avengers. Somehow the Stark-cam had stayed online even with the hurricane throwing cars through the air.

We watched with baited breath as the hurricane exploded outward. Marina and Max were thrown backward violently and skidded along the ground. Max stood up, with only torn clothes, but Marina was barely moving. Jean must be trying to get closer, because the Stark-cam slowly got closer, like she was being pushed back by the wind.

Thomas started carrying people out of the way, and Lily was fighting the two goons who had initially shot into the car.

Max moved towards Marina to help her, but spotted something else we couldn't see. Jean must have noticed as well and turned a little. Two teenage kids, probably around fourteen and fifteen, were huddled on the ground. A car flew through the air at their heads. Max threw himself in front of them with his hands raised, and I winced, expecting my son to be killed.

He caught the car.

He held it over his head easily, though the initial force made his feet slid back a few inches. He leaned forward and set the car down carefully, the teenage kids running away at his shout. Another car flew towards the probably unconscious Marina, and Jean shot forward. She wasn't strong enough to catch the car like Max, instead grabbing Irongirl's arms and pulling her out of the way.

Jean struggled to lift Marina, who twitched and then straightened on her own.

Marina shouted something that was lost in the roar of the hurricane, and shot away, leaving Jean to deflect deadly debris on her own.

Most of the rest of the footage was confused and blurred, debris flying everywhere and wind blasting people around.

We could make out Thomas running around the bottom of the hurricane, in the opposite direction of the wind. The rest of the future Avengers tried to get people out of the way of the destruction.

Then the bottom of the hurricane started to clear and unravel, and Marina suddenly landed by Jean. "Thomas is unravelling it!" She shouted. "Max and Lils are getting people out, now's our chance!" She pointed up towards the people in the cars that had been caught in the hurricane, and we spotted Lily shooting from one to another and pulling people out, carrying them to the ground.

Jean nodded (she must have, the camera moved up and down a bit), and Marina disappeared from the screen. Then Jean lifted off the ground, her shield in her hands. Marina must be carrying her. They aimed for the bottom of the hurricane, where Thomas had managed to considerably slow the winds.

They shot through to the middle of the hurricane, nearly missing getting hit by a lamp post flying through the air. Suddenly the wind noise stopped. They were in the eye of the storm. The armored car was gone, but the man was still there, sustaining the storm.

"Hey, ugly!" Marina shouted, holding out a hand. There was a whir and a click as the rockets in her hands turned on. "Stop now or I fire!"

The man cackled. "I wouldn't stand there, if I were you."

"We have to help them!" Stark burst out suddenly, making us all jump. "This guys' too much for them, they need our help."

"No." Fury said. "We watch."

I agreed with Stark. The future Avengers were in over their heads-heck, so would we if we were in their shoes. They needed backup.

Onscreen, Jean and Marina's heads jerked up to face the sky. The armored car fell towards them. The camera jerked to the side as Marina tackled Jean and flew them out from underneath the falling truck.

It hit the ground and exploded, bags of money flying everywhere. The man cackled and grabbed a bag of cash in each hand.

"You evil-" Marina swore, but Jean was still holding her shield. She threw it and it hit the guy, hard, in the back as he turned to run. He collapsed to the ground, moaning, and the hurricane vanished.

Suddenly cars were falling from the sky, but they and the street were empty of people, thanks to the other future Avengers. They hit the ground one by one, some catching on fire some rolling and shattering the glass in the windows.

Then there was silence for a minute. Lily landed and Max jogged over. Thomas slowed enough for us to be able to see more then a blur and then stopped on top of a car.

"Did we get him?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah." Jean said. The man started to sit up, and she cracked him over the head with her shield again. "We got him."

"Yes!" Marina cheered, pumping her fist. She tapped her wrist and the suit folded itself down until she wore just a metal glove. "Who want's shawarma?"

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review, or follow/favorite if you haven't already. A big thanks to everybody who's reviewed so far! See you all next time!**


	6. Breakdowns and even more shawarma

**AN: thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, or followed! Or just read the story! I really appreciate it. And I'm not just saying that, seriously. Anyway, I don't own the Avengers. Though one day I think I just might… as soon as I build a machine that makes them real, enslave them, and use my army of Chitauri to take over the world. As soon as that happens, I'll own the Avengers. Until then, not mine.**

 **~Jean Rogers~**

That afternoon, while the rest of the future Avengers were eating shawarma and joking around and watching cartoons, I wandered away. I had made them wait on the way back to Avengers tower so I could buy art supplies. The work on the anomaly detector was slow, so I figured I should find something to do until we got home.

I carried a roll of canvas paper up to the roof. It was a sunny day out, and the view was amazing. I was all alone up there, so I could work on my surprise in peace.

I planned to have the new painting done soon-I wanted to give it to the past Avengers when we left, so they would remember us (it's not like we're easy to forget, but you know what I mean).

I put my borrowed earbuds in, and hummed along to Fall Out Boy and Imagine Dragons as I painted.

As always, my hands started to move independently of my mind, moving and twisting the paint brush around the paper without consulting my brain. I spaced out and just let the paint find its own way on the large canvas.

"Jean?" I jumped, but managed not to mess up the part of the painting I was working on. I glanced down and saw rainbow paint splats all down my jeans. They actually looked better this way. "Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you!"

It was Dad, looking embarrassed.

I dropped my brush into the water and stood up, wiping my paint-covered hands on my pants. Hey, they were already ruined. "It's fine. I just spaced out. What's up?"

He had a determined glint in his eyes that almost unnerved me-this was something important.

"I wanted to ask you a few things about the future."

I nodded slowly. I wasn't sure how much of the future we could tell without screwing up the universe, but I would answer as much as I could.

"Go ahead. But we have to go inside-this painting is going to be a surprise." He nodded, and followed me downstairs to the living room. I collapsed on a couch, and he sat perfectly straight.

"Okay, first, If I'm your dad, then who's your mom?"

"I don't think I should tell you that." I said. "She told me once that she knew right away when she saw you that you were perfect for her and there was no chance she was going to let you go, so I don't think you have to worry about which person to talk to on which day or anything like that."

He nodded, relaxing a little. "Okay, next; do you have a boyfriend? Max mentioned someone named Paul?"  
"Um, no. Paul is just a friend."

"Are your friends nice?"  
"You like them. I mean, future you does."

"What are your hobbies? I mean, other then art."

"I box. You taught me when I was a kid. And I'm a camp counselor summers, when I'm not busy off being a superhero. Technically I should still be in high school, but I took two years in one Freshman year, so I graduated early."

He nodded, and we sank into a kind of uncomfortable silence. He had kind of run out of questions, and I didn't have anything to say.

Thank god for stupidity. Seriously, when you put Marina Stark and Thomas Maximoff in a room together, someone's going to get hurt.

There was a sound from the other room like a cannon shot, and an explosion of wood and glass. Dad and I pulled our shields off our backs and held them in front of us protectively at the exact same moment, deflecting shards of metal and glass.

When the dust cleared, we saw what had happened.

The wall of the living room was destroyed, sending rubble across the floor. The hole showed two more walls beyond that totally smashed, and the same damage to all the attached rooms.

Laying on the closest pile of rubble, groaning in pain, was Thomas. Standing on the far side of the destruction was a guilty-looking Marina.

"Thomas!" I gasped, crouching down next to him and checking his pulse. I spend summers as a camp counselor, and we all had to take a first aid course. He was alive, and he turned his head to give me an apologetic grin. But his eyes weren't totally focused.

Marina scrambled towards us, and other Avengers were crowding around, having come running from other parts of the tower. Wanda kneeled on Thomas's other side. I glanced at Marina, who stood by his feet staring at her shoes.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Tony asked.

"I kind of dared him to try and make a sonic boom by running around the room a bunch of times real real fast, but then he couldn't stop and he broke through the walls… is he gonna be okay?"

I glared at her. "He just hit three concrete and steel walls at the speed of sound. Do you think he's okay?"

"I see birdies…" Thomas giggled, illustrating my point.

"We have to take him to the hospital." Wanda said, looking kind of panicky. I think Thomas reminded her of her deceased brother, Pietro. I had seen a picture of Pietro once, and Thomas looked a lot like him.

"No, he'll be fine." Max sighed. Lily nodded to agree with us. The past Avengers gave us looks like, _have you seen the kid?_

Marina explained. "He has a super-fast metabolism, which means he also heals faster then normal people. Like, not fast enough to save him if he got shot, but fast enough that a few broken bones and bruises will heal on their own about three times as fast as they would for a normal person. Give him a week or so, he'll be back on his feet."

"Max, will you-" I started to ask, but Max was already on it. He carefully picked up Thomas as easily as if he weighed nothing, and carried him towards the stairs and his bedroom. I turned towards the destroyed walls and piles of rubble.

"I guess we'd better start cleaning this up." Marina said, reading my thoughts.

"Pepper is gonna be so mad when she gets home from work…." Tony mumbled. "I mean, look what you kids did to my beautiful tower! It was my baby, and you killed it!"

"It's just a few walls," Marina tried to protest.

"It is not a few walls! You, young lady, are cleaning all this up!"

"You did _not_ just call me young lady."

"You bet I did! Now go get a broom!"

"Make me!"  
"Maybe I will!"

"You couldn't if you tried!"

"That's what you think!"

"And I'm right, too!"

"Bite me!"

"That is _it!_ " Tony bellowed. The rest of us had been looking back and forth between the two shouting Starks like we were watching a ping-pong match. When they were mad, the two Stark looked very similar-flashing eyes, same stance, dark hair wild. "Go to your room!"

"You aren't the boss of me! I haven't even been born yet!"

"Don't make me get my suit!"

"As if! All you stupid future Avengers think you're better just because you're older! We've done just as much as you! Maybe more!" I was shocked. Marina had just crossed a line, and now everyone but me was arguing.

"-no idea what we've-"

"-already, and we're only teenagers-"

"-yeah you did! You said-"

"-you can't just-"

"-how dare you assume-"

I plugged my fingers in my ears, wishing this stupidity would stop. I counted to ten, trying to keep calm. But I hate arguments. "Shut up! Just shut up!" I screamed. Everyone gave me a glare and went back to arguing.

I spun around and rushed out. I couldn't listen to any more shouting. I wanted to go back to my painting on the roof, and ignore all of this.

I reached the roof and turned my music back on.

The Avengers were falling apart after only a few days. Thomas was injured, Marina and Tony were furious with each other, the rest of the Avengers were fighting, and we were no closer to getting home then we had been yesterday.

It was impossible to work on my painting with the shouting going on below.

Normally, in our time, I would call my god father when the Avengers started fighting. Sam-I mean Falcon-always knew how to shut them up. Sometimes Fury or Maria Hill and sometimes even Coulson would help. But in this time I didn't know what to do, especially since at this time the Avengers still thought Coulson was dead.

The shouting became louder downstairs. I couldn't listen to any more of this.

"JARVIS? You there?" I called hopefully. The robotic-sounding AI answered right away.

"Yes, Miss Rogers."

"The Avengers who are fighting are all still in the living room, right?"

"They are according to my security feeds, Miss Rogers."

"Then turn on the sprinklers in the living room, please."

"Miss Rogers, are you sure that-"

"Yes. This has worked before."

"Then I will turn them on, Miss Rogers." I rushed to the top of the stairs and yanked the door open, peering down into the living room. I got there just in time to see the sprinklers turn on and totally soak the arguing Avengers.

They all screamed or yelped a little, and stumbled, but the splash in the face had the desired effect. They stopped shouting at each other.

"Now will you listen?" I called to them as JARVIS turned the sprinklers off again. They all turned to me. "You can't fight like this! You're supposed to be earth's mightiest heroes, remember? You should be working together to help people, not turning on each other whenever one of you messed up!"

They glared at each other, then all turned and wandered away in opposite directions. My pep talk had not done what I had hoped. They were all still mad.

I sighed and closed the door to the roof. I turned my music on and even louder so I couldn't hear anything else, and got back to work on my painting. Hopefully this would work itself out.

 **~Max Banner~**

I heard the fighting downstairs suddenly stop. I would've gone down to help when I heard the shouting start, but I didn't want to leave Thomas on his own until he woke up. I sat by his bed uncomfortably, wondering what all that shouting could've been about.

Suddenly Thomas's eyes flickered open. "Max? What-"

"Relax." I assured him. "You really knocked your head with that sonic boom stunt. That was pretty stupid, by the way."

"Yeah." He said, grinning cheekily. "It really was."

I sighed and stood up. I pointed to his phone on the nightstand. "Text one of us if you need anything, there's something else I have to check on." Thomas nodded and closed his eyes, clearly wanting sleep. I left him on his own and went downstairs.

The living room was soaking wet. Which was weird.

And nobody was there. Which was also weird. And music was blasting from the roof. Which seemed just as weird.

I sighed again. I would have to sort this out. The only person that was easy to find was Tony, who would be in his lab, probably with Dad. I turned around the corner and down a flight of steps, and went into the lab.

Tony was leaning over his one of his work tables, welding something to something else. Dad was standing on the other side of the table, pretending to work on something on his tablet, but I knew he wasn't really. He kept glancing up at Tony, talking quietly. Tony was ignoring him.

"Hey, guys." I called. Dad glanced up, but Tony ignored me, too. "What happened? I heard shouts."

"Everyone lost their temper." Dad said cryptically.

Okay…. In this situation, there was only one thing to do: WWFD? What Would Fury Do never fails. And if Fury was in my shoes, he would probably shock Tony back to reality, probably by…. Wow this plan was evil. But it would work.

"Tony?" I asked. He grunted. "I just thought you should know that Marina and I slept together."

Tony let out a scream and dropped whatever he was working on on his foot, resulting in lots of swear words. He grabbed his foot and jumped a little, looking like as soon as he was done being in pain he would punch me. Dad had dropped his tablet, and was now just staring at me.

I couldn't help it. I mean, it was pretty funny; I cracked up. "Sorry, Tony. But you needed a jump start."

"You mean you didn't-you were just- _thank god._ " Dad said, sagging against the table. "You're lucky the other guy didn't make an appearance at that one, Max."

"Sorry." I said. Tony had collapsed into his chair and was now struggling to breath.

"You are _evil_ , kid." He spluttered. I nodded.

"So I've been told. Anyway, what happened earlier? I heard shouting."

"Everyone blew up." Tony said, shrugging. "My daughter and I had a disagreement and it escalated. They'll cool down and admit I was right."

I raised an eyebrow. "Cute. You think Marina will ever back down. That's adorable."

He snorted. "Then what are _you_ going to do?"

"Not what I'm going to do." I said, crossing my arms in what I hoped was a determined type way. "It's more what _you're_ going to do."

 **~Marina Stark~**

I sat in my room, my chair tilted back on two legs and my feet on my desk. I crossed my arms and scowled at the wall.

Stupid dad. Stupid Avengers. Stupid friends. I didn't need them. I was fine on my own. And I was also soaking wet. That was another thing that I was. I pulled my feet up, letting my chair bang back onto the floor, stormed into the bathroom and took a fast shower. I hate wearing wet clothes, so I found a black _I do all my own stunts!_ t-shirt and jeans.

It was roundabout then that JARVIS's voice came over the speakers. "Mr. Stark requires the presence of all Avengers in the kitchen immediately. He says it is an emergency, a matter of life-and-death."

I immediately started scrambling. I snatched my metal gauntlet off the desk and pulled it on, ready to activate my suit. What could be wrong? Was someone hurt? Was there a mission? Had something happened to Mom? That had to be it. Someone had called Dad because something bad had happened to Mom.

I threw my door open and nearly ran into Thor, who was heading towards the kitchen too. We barely acknowledged each other, running down the stairs.

What had happened to her? Hydra agents? Car crash? Bombing? Terminal disease? Heart attack? Something bad!

The Avengers all skidded into the large kitchen, expecting a horror scene.

Instead we saw Dad sitting at the kitchen table, Bruce leaning against the counter, and Max standing next to Dad. All three looked totally calm. Sitting on the middle of the table was three huge paper bags.

"Um… what?" I said intelligently.

Dad looked pained. "Um… so this is my way of saying…" Max shifted slightly, and Dad winced. I suspect that Max actually stepped on my Dad's foot. Dad gritted his teeth. "I'm _sorry,_ okay? There, I said it!" He scowled, but Max grinned.

"He even bought shawarma for all of you." Max said, pointing to the paper bags on the table. I opened one and found lots and lots of delicious delicious shawarma.

I shot him a suspicious look. "The great Tony Stark is apologizing?"  
"Is this some sort of joke?" Clint asked. "Cause if so, I am _still_ willing to eat that shawarma."

"No joke. I'm sorry, so I'm apologizing." Dad said, and it seemed less forced this time.

Max nodded encouragingly. "You never turn down shawarma, Mar. Don't start now."

"Well…" I hesitated. Something weird was up with Max and Dad, they were both staring at me funny, but who was I to argue with shawarma? "Fine. Apology accepted already."

And then we ate shawarma. Even though most of us were soaking wet.

 **~Bruce Banner~**

I was really impressed with Max. Not only had he convinced _Tony Stark_ of all people to apologize, but he had also made everyone think the whole thing was Tony's idea. That kid was sly.

And he had a definite crush on Marina. I'm willing to bet that if Marina hadn't been the other starter of the fight, Max wouldn't have cared much. But he had fixed everything surprisingly well. Marina and Tony were friendly again, everyone got shawarma (which was becoming this weird symbol of happiness for the Stark household), and things were normal again.

I was really really impressed.

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review or follow/favorite this story!**


	7. James Bond and Nightmares

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. Please review or follow/favorite.**

 **Also: a huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed! They were all super nice and I just wanted to say thanks if you were one of those amazingly wonderful people who left a review. And to the person who didn't like my Natasha/Bruce pairing: I DON'T CARE, LOSER! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **And school is starting soon, so sorry if I stop updating as often. Because I have like seven other stories that are really behind, and seventh grade will probably bring lots and lots of homework, so blech. Sorry in advance.**

 **~Marina Stark~**

The next day I was dragged into the lab to help with the time anomaly device. Max, Dad, and Bruce were making slow progress, and I was drafted to help. Jean was busy on the roof with something I wasn't allowed to see, and the other past Avengers were on a mission. Lily and Thomas (who was already feeling a lot better) were the only ones free, and decided to watch the James Bond marathon on TV.

And that's how I ended up spending my day.

It was very boring.

That evening I collapsed on the couch with Lils and Thomas just in time to catch the last half hour of their movie. It made like zero sense to me, but I was tired from a long day of work on the device.

Max stretched out on the carpet as the next movie started, and Jean came downstairs. She sat down on the floor and leaned against the couch next to my feet.

For a moment I felt like a normal kid just hanging out with my friends, instead of a superheroine trying to save reality from shattering and trying to time-travel back home. It was nice.

 **~Pepper Potts~**

I stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and watching the kids watch James Bond movies. I was especially interested in Marina.

It felt strange to know that one day I would marry Tony and have a daughter. It was like someone had told me what happened at the end of a good book.

"Pepper? You okay?" Tony asked, making me jump. I hadn't even noticed him come back with the rest of the Avengers, all of them (except Tony and Bruce) looking dirty and tired.

"Yeah. But doesn't it just seem weird to have a kid all of a sudden?"

"I know what you mean." Natasha said, sending a suspicious glance at Bruce.

"Definitely strange." Bruce agreed.

"Still, though," Steve said. "I think they all turned out really well. Even though some of them don't exactly follow the rules." He inclined his head towards the holes in the walls.

"Psh, following rules is for chumps." Tony said, rolling his eyes. Nobody felt like reminding him that the holes in the walls were the cause of his huge argument with Marina. "And I like Max specially. He's the one who got me to apologize to Marina. He definitely like, _like_ likes her."

"No offense Stark, but you sound like a middle school girl." Clint snickered. "I'm kind of glad my future kid isn't here. That would just be super weird."

"Shut up!" Someone shouted from the living room, and all the past Avengers and I jumped (minus Natasha, who had been watching the argument in the living room get louder with interest).

"I won't, because you're wrong!"

"Q rules way more then M, how could you say that?"

We all relaxed again, and went back to talking. A few minutes later, though, someone called for us from the living room. It was Thomas.

"Don't you guys want to watch? He just jumped off the roof!"

"Sure, but gimme that popcorn." Tony called, running out of the kitchen, closely followed by Clint and Thor.

The rest of the Avengers shrugged at each other, or said things like, "Might as well", or "Couldn't hurt", or "Sure, why not?". I had really liked James Bond when I was a kid, so I followed. We all walked into the living room, where Tony had squeezed onto the couch between Marina and Lily, and was stuffing his face with popcorn. Clint and Thor were on the floor with Max and Jean, and Steve, Natasha, Bruce, and I followed suite.

We were up to almost four in the morning watching James Bond movies, and when the marathon was finally over everyone stumbled upstairs yawning and groaning with tiredness.

 **~Marina Stark~**

I fell into bed, totally exhausted. I didn't even bother changing into pajamas, I just collapsed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I was woken what felt like only a moment later by a scream in the room next to mine. I jolted so hard I hit my head on the headboard of the bed. I rolled out of the bed, thrashing to get the blankets off me. I pulled on my iron glove, pressing the button to put on the suit, and stumbling out my door blearily.

A pained groan came from the room next to mine-I couldn't remember whose it was, but I knocked loudly on it. No answer but a whimper. I stepped back and delivered a hard diagonal kick to the knob on the door. It cracked off under my metal armor, and swung open.

I shoved the door all the way open and stormed in, one hand raised in preparation to attack whatever intruder had dared attack one of my friends.

But instead all I saw was Bruce, thrashing in bed, fighting something that wasn't there. It took me a moment to see that his eyes were closed-he was having a nightmare.

"Bruce? Bruce! Wake up!" I tapped my hand and the Irongirl suit pulled itself off me. I shook Bruce's shoulder, but it did nothing to help.

"What's going on?" Max's sleepy voice came from the door. He stood there in his pajamas, loosely holding a flashlight in one hand and rubbing his eye with the other. He quickly brushed his hair behind his ear when he saw me. "Marina? Dad? What's happening?"

"He's having a nightmare." I said, trying again to wake Bruce up. Now he was just softly groaning, a pained look on his face. "He won't wake."

"Future him gets these, too." Max said, hurrying forward and closing Bruce's door. "Don't want to wake up anyone else," He said by way of explanation, and I nodded. "He's a super deep sleeper, we won't be able to wake him up. But he can kind of sense when someone friendly is with him, and it helps. Normally mom sits with him, but I'll do it since she's not here."

But Max looked exhausted as he pulled over a chair and flicked his flashlight on to see better.

"I'll stay up with you," I offered. Max's cheeks tinged themselves pink.

"You don't have to do that."

"Sure I do, you're my friend." Wait, I had meant to say that Bruce was my friend. Where had Max come into it? Dunno. "I'll make hot cocoa and be right back. Want marshmallows?"  
"Huh?" Max asked, confused.

"In the hot cocoa, stupid." I rolled my eyes, and just assumed that he wanted marshmallows. I went down to the kitchen, warmed the milk and poured in the powder, and added marshmallows to the two mugs of hot cocoa.

Hot chocolate is the only thing I can make without lighting stuff on fire. It's seriously the only thing-I had to be able to make it, since I used it to help keep me up when I was working late on a project.

I walked back up to Bruce's room and sat down next to Max. He took a mug of hot chocolate with a "thanks", and we settled in for a long night.

 **~Bruce Banner~**

The nightmares last night had been worse then ever before. I had realized on some level that I had been screaming out loud, but a few minutes later there was someone by me, and the nightmares dimmed again.

When I woke up, Max and Marina were sitting by my bed. There were empty hot cocoa mugs on their laps, and Marina's head rested on Max's shoulder. Max's head rested on hers, and both of them were deeply asleep.

I couldn't help grinning.

I got showered and dressed as fast as I could, and hurried down to the kitchen, where everyone else was blearily eating cereal and (slightly singed) scrambled eggs.

"Everyone, you have to see this." They all followed me upstairs, and everyone grinned or giggled at the sleeping Max and Marina. "I had a nightmare last night, and I guess they heard and came in to check on me… and fell asleep like that."

"This is going all over the internet when we're back in our time." Jean mumbled, snapping photos of the sleeping duo.

"They'll never live this down." Thomas sniggered.

"See? Told you." Natasha mumbled to Clint, who just nodded a little. Clint dug into his pockets and handed Natasha a twenty.

"What's happening?" I asked, confused.

"We had a bet on how long it would take Marina and Max to realize they like each other. I just won, at three days. Clint thought a week."

"They don't know they like each other, they just fell asleep together!" Clint complained. Then he frowned. "Wait. That came out wrong."

Max and Marina stirred, waking up. Jean, Lily, and Thomas, seeing this, herded us all out of the room to "let the lovebirds sleep!"

 **AN: Thanks for reading! As always, please leave a review (suggestions or constructive criticism welcome), or favorite/follow if you haven't already. See you next time!**


	8. Embarrassments and scheming

**AN: I don't own the Avengers (but as soon as my genetically modified dinosaurs take over New York, they will be** **mine!** **BWAHAHAHA! Seriously, just kidding.** _ **Or was I?**_ **). Please review or follow/favorite.**

 **Thanks, GuardianGirl24 for leaving a nice review on like every chapter, that was really nice of you.**

 **~Marina Stark~**

I was about to die from humiliation. Tony had printed out photos of Max and I sleeping and had hung them all over the tower, with little hearts drawn on them in pink marker. According to Fury, who had called around noon looking murderous, there were also dozens of them on the walls of the triskelion. All the agents were demanding to know who the kids in the photo were and why Ironman had gone so far to tease them, but we didn't want everyone to know who we were, so I couldn't take public revenge.

But I did find Dad and beat him over the head with a phone book.

Max and I had spent the rest of the day taking the photos down from the triskelion. A lot of agents came over and asked who we were, recognizing us from the photo, but I just stuck my tongue out at all of them. Max went red and kept taking down photos.

It was when a younger Maria Hill and Coulson came up to us that I finally gave up on keeping this under wraps.

"Hi, yeah, um can we go somewhere I can talk to you guys where nobody else can hear? This is going to sound weird, but we met a long time ago. C'mon, follow me." I grabbed Coulson's arm and dragged him around the corner and away from the agents laughing at one of the photos on the walls. Coulson could have fought back easily, but he was curious. Max motioned for Hill to follow us, and both jogged around the corner.

"What do you mean we met a long time ago? I'd never seen you until Stark hung your photo all over the triskellion."

"Yeah, he's subtle like that." Max muttered.

"I'm Marina Stark." I said, grinning and offering a hand to shake. Coulson and Hill stared at me like I'd just said, _hi, I'm a pink fluffy unicorn!_ and I was about to yell April Fools. "I'm from twenty years in the future. The future Avengers time travelled to this time a few days ago."

"Max Banner." Max said, raising a hand in greeting. "Also from the future."

Coulson and Hill had twin heart attacks. Then they both started talking at once, and it took us a while to sort things out, and then they insisted on coming back to Stark tower with us to meet the other future Avengers, which is why we left a steaming Fury to spend his afternoon collecting flyers of two snoozing teens.

When we got back with Coulson and Hill, the first future Avenger we could find was Thomas, who was running around the kitchen with superspeed. He was making lasagna, and the superspeed seriously seemed to help with the cooking. He shot from the fridge to the oven to the cabinets to the fridge again.

Coulson and Hill stared at him.

"Oh, sup, guys!" Thomas stopped and grinned, his hair sticking up at the front from running around at superspeed. "Coulson, Hill!" He shot Max and I a nervous look. "Um, you guys know who I am?"

"No…." Hill said, slowly shaking her head.

"I'm Thomas. Thomas Maximoff, otherwise known as the Speedster. I'm an Avenger from the future, but you might've guessed the Speedster part."

"Yeah…?"

"Anyway, do you want to meet the other future Avengers?" Thomas asked, grinning. Without waiting for an answer, he ran out of the kitchen as a blur. A split second later, he was back and carrying Jean bridal style. He set her down (ignoring Jean's swearing), and sprinted away again. Then he was back with Lily, who actually tried to hit him but he ducked out of the way, cackling.

"What are you-oh, Coulson, H-Hill!" Jean burst into a grin. "Good to see you guys. But… you don't know me. I'm Jean Rogers," Her eyes were fixed on Hill, and I winced a little. Maybe should've thought this through a bit more. It's funny that everyone, including Hill's daughter, calls her Hill. Never mom. Jean would probably start screaming at Max and I for not considering this all the way before bringing home her mom as soon as Hill and Coulson were gone again.

"Nice to meet you. Although you already know us." Coulson said, pulling himself together and shaking Jean's hand. "Who are you?" Coulson turned to Lily, though I had the feeling he had a guess. I mean, she was decked out in armor, a cape, and a freaking battle axe.

"Lily Foster. Daughter of Thor." Lily said, shaking his hand as well.

We made small talk for a while-of course Coulson and Hill both asked about the future, but we wouldn't answer any questions. Coulson and his wife (I think she's a cello player or something) had seven-year-old twins, Abby and Mark. Hill… well let's just say she and a certain super soldier really hit it off.

When they were finally gone again, Jean turned on me with murder in her eyes. "Oh my gods do you have any idea how awkward that was! Why did you not think about that first!"

"Sorry, Jean," Max intervened before I could get mad. "We didn't think. But at least now you know what your mom was like twenty years ago. So that's kind of a plus, right?"  
"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Jean grumbled. She and Lily wandered away, talking about some Asgardian festival of art. Thomas was about to say something but the oven dinged and he blurred away to finish his lasagna. I mean seriously, lasagna? I would've hoped for shawarma. I have a shawarma fetish.

Which left Max and I standing in awkward silence. "So, um, wanna go…?" Max said, awkwardly.

"Yeah. Great, sure. Let's go do that." I said, just as awkwardly. We walked down a hallway in a random direction until we passed the training room. "Ooh, hey, we haven't trained since we got here! As leader of the team, shouldn't you make us do that?"

"Nah. I have humanity." Max said with a slight smile. I grinned and dragged him into the training room.

I didn't have my armor, so Max agreed to keep to normal-human-being-strength. I put on boxing gloves and so did he, but our sparring match didn't stay just boxing for long.

I tried a diagonal kick towards Max's nose when he got the upperhand, but he dodged to one side and caught my foot. I twisted to one side to free myself and punched at the same time, but he deflected the blow. He tried an uppercut, and I fell back a bit to avoid it, driving a punch towards his stomach. He turned and I missed, and he brought his elbow down on my back when I leaned forward a little too far. I fell forward, but grabbed Max around the waist and he fell with me.

I scrambled for a moment, but ended up sitting on his stomach, his arms pinned to the floor.

I leaned forward so my nose was an inch from his and smiled sweetly at him. My long dark curls slipped from behind one ear and brushed the side of his face. "Give up yet, Banner?" I asked, and was surprised when I didn't sound sarcastic. Max's face was bright red, and he stopped fighting. He's actually pretty cute when he's flustered, and in that moment I almost wanted to kiss him. _No, don't,_ a little voice in my head told me. _Don't kiss Max!_

 _Why not?_ I argued with the voice.

 _Because-_

Max interrupted with my argument (which is good because I think the rest of that conversation would've gotten me sent to a mental hospital). "Um, can I lose now please?" He asked hopefully, his voice an octave higher then normal and his face terrified.

I laughed and rolled off him, onto my back. "If you insist."

There was slow clapping from the doorway, and we both jumped, beet red. Natasha and Steve were standing there, and Natasha was clapping.

"I'm impressed," Natasha told me, offering a hand up. Steve pulled Max to his feet. "You're both good."

"Thanks," I said, extremely embarrassed that they had seen that moment. I tried to ask as casually as I could, "Uh, how much of that were you standing there for?"

"The whole thing." Steve shrugged, but there was a small smile playing on his face. If Natasha ever smiled, she would be wearing one just like it. Now Max wasn't the only one bright red.

 **~Tony Stark~**

I watched the sparring match over JARVIS's security cameras. Max and my daughter definitely had something, but they seemed to have trouble figuring that out. I would have to help.

I tapped the comm's to turn them on, and said, "All past Avengers, get to my lab right now. Loki just tried to kill me." He hadn't, of course, but it would hurry them.

Thor burst into the lab first, his hammer raised to attack Loki. When he saw his brother wasn't there, he turned to glare at me. We were soon joined by the rest of the past Avengers-Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Bruce all rushed in with their weapons raised. At least none of the future Avengers had followed their parents.

"Guys. This is life-and-death." I said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Where's Loki?" Natasha demanded, gun cocked and at the ready.

"Oh, not here." I grinned. "I mean, he might be," I said, when Thor's glare darkened and I was a little worried his hammer might become great friends with my face. "I didn't check the closet."

"What's this about, Stark?" Steve asked, sounding exasperated.

"Romeo and Juliet," I said, taking a sip of wine. It was only four in the afternoon, but I was thirsty. I could see on Steve and Bruce's faces that they wanted to reprimand me, but held themselves in check to hear what I was talking about. "They need a little shove in the right direction. How about we stage them getting kidnapped and they think they're gonna die so they admit their unwavering love for-"

"How about we _don't_ do that?" Clint suggested.

"Shouldn't we let them figure it out on their own?" Steve asked nervously. I turned to Natasha and Bruce.

"This is about your kid, too! They'd be perfect together, I mean, c'mon…" I turned on the security camera's video of their sparring match.

" _Give up yet, Banner?" Marina asked, leaning forward so her face was an inch from his._

"See! See!" I paused the screen. "They're perfect. They just don't know it. So as I was saying, we just hire someone to fake kidnap them, and then when they nearly die escaping together they'll totally fall in love!" I grinned.

"All in favor of doing anything but that?" Bruce asked drily, and everyone but me raised their hand.

"Oh-psh. Haters." I grumbled.

"We could send a love note to each of them, saying it's from the other." Clint suggested. When everyone stared at him, he went pink. "I am a trained superspy, not dumb."

"That might work…" Bruce nodded grudgingly. "But I think we should just leave them alone. Natasha, you can't agree with these nuts!"

Romanoff nodded. "Actually, this would be good for them." Steve and Bruce both groaned.

"We will help you get them together, man of iron!" Thor nodded.

"Okay, seriously, here's what we're going to do. All we have to do is-" I started.

"Does it involve whipped cream, sharks, fake kidnappings, or making JARVIS sing Katy Perry songs?" Natasha asked, eyeing me. I stuck my hands in my pockets.

"I got nothing."

"You could just ask us for ideas," Jean said, smugly walking through the door of the lab, arms crossed. She was flanked by Lily and Thomas, who were both grinning. "We've been trying to get them together for years."

"We've tried everything, but they're both so dense." Lily rolled her eyes. "They just don't take hints."

"I set them up on blind dates with _each other_ once, and they just thought I made a mistake! I mean seriously!" Thomas threw his hands up in frustration.

"Seriously? I taught my daughter better then that! She should've totally run with that!" I spluttered.

"Yeah, nope." Thomas shook his head. "But I have another better idea!"

"What would that be?" Clint asked, eyeing the Maximoff a little warily. I think it kind of creeped everybody out a little bit how much like his uncle Thomas looked. He even had a slight Russian accent when he got mad. Especially Clint was bothered-I mean, Pietro died protecting Clint, and then the next day a kid shows up who looks just like him? Creepy.

"Listen closely, young jedi must." Thomas cackled in a bad Yoda impression. Lily tried to punch him, but he ran out of the way at super speed and sat criss-cross applesauce on top of one of my work tables. If the situation were less dire I would've pushed him off. "Here's what we're gonna do…."

 **AN: thanks for reading! Please leave a review (ideas are welcome, because I have writer's block. I can't think of anything good for them to do after the Max/Marina drama) or favorite/follow.**


	9. holy-shit-I'm-gonna-die

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. Please review or favorite/follow.**

 _ **THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO SupernaturalBaby4Life!**_ **Thank you so much for that idea, I was seriously stuck. Without your help it would've been forever until I updated this story. ALSO: thanks to I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover for your idea, because I will use that idea in part two of this chapter. Thanks to the other people who left ideas in the reviews, I really appreciate it. You're all great. I'm not sure how well this chapter turned out, but I hope you like it.**

 **~Jean Rogers~**

The plan was set. Everything was going to go perfectly. Or it _would_ have if it weren't for Marina. We had everything we needed, had explained things to JARVIS, made sure Max would be in the right place at the right time, and even bribed several cops to look the other way.

And then Marina decided to borrow Falcon's goddam wings.

Sam had stopped by that morning to talk to Dad, and when he had gone home he had left his wings for Tony to repair for him. Even in our time, Marina had always envied those wings. She loved her Irongirl suit, of course, but it was different to fly with wings instead of rocket boosters.

So when she saw them lying partially disassembled in Tony's lab, I guess she just couldn't resist.

I think things might still have worked out, if Marina hadn't reassembled the wings incorrectly. There was one small part that had fallen off the table without her noticing, so the wings wouldn't work. But Marina didn't notice. Of course not.'

We figured out what was happening when Marina plummeted past the kitchen windows, one wing on fire, desperately trying to fix them while falling.

Everyone had burst into action. We scrambled for our weapons, yelling for someone to find Bruce or Thor. But Tony hadn't panicked like the rest of us (except for Natasha, but I'm not sure she's even capable of panicking). He ran forward, missing his helmet but not seeming to care, and threw himself through the window.

We all rushed forward, staring after him in horror. He might already be too late.

 **~Marina Stark~**

The problem with realizing that borrowing wings and jumping off the top of Stark Tower is a bad idea? If you're already plummeting to your death from thirty stories up, it's too late.

I was pretty sure I was going to die. The chances of someone seeing me fall and getting one of the flying Avengers in time to catch me weren't good, and now it was only twenty-five stories.

One of the wings was on fire, and I was frantically trying to put it out, which only made me spin as I fell, which was terrible.

Twenty stories. Fifteen. Ten.

I wondered if it would hurt to be pancaked, and what my friends would put on my tombstone; _Hero. Friend. Genius. Fell to her death after trying to build herself wings. We take back the statement about being a genius._ Yeah, I couldn't wait for that.

Then there was the sound of shattering glass high above me, and I looked back up. Dad was rocketing down towards me, but I was only five stories up now and I didn't think he would reach me in time.

I screamed, a full-out monster-movie holy-shit-I'm-gonna-die scream.

He slammed into me, but there was no time to pull up. Instead he twisted so he was underneath me, and we hit the ground hard.

There was an explosion of metal and glass, screaming and swearing and sobbing, and for a moment I thought I really was dead.

Then I realized that the person screaming was me, and I opened my eyes.

I was on top of a partially crushed car, but something had cushioned my fall. I struggled to remember-Dad. Where was dad.

There was a groan from underneath me, and I staggered off him. He didn't look good-he had hit the ground hard, if not as hard as I had. He had managed to use the rocket boosters in the suit to slow our fall just enough for us to still be alive.

But I wasn't sure he was going to make it. I stumbled back to him, shaking his shoulder. He wasn't moving, but he groaned and his eyelids fluttered. He was alive.

"Marina!" Someone behind me shouted. The other Avengers were running toward us.

"Call an ambulance!" I sobbed. "He's dying!" Something hot and sticky was in my eye, and when I wiped it away my hand came back red. I stared at it, surprised, but dad was worse off.

I refused to leave his side. Max and Jean held me back as the paramedics took my Dad away in the ambulance. If he died, it would be my fault. I knew it would be my fault.

 _What have I done?_

They took me back into the tower, and Jean helped me change into pajamas. A woman in a doctors uniform that I didn't recognize… Dr. Cho? Something like that. She checked over my injures, wrapping them in bandages. I was fighting the tears that I knew would escape at some point, but I didn't want anyone to see me cry.

She finally announced that I would be okay, but I had a few fractured bones and a lot of bruises. She told me it was a miracle that I was alive, and led me into the hallway.

Max, Jean, Thomas, Lily, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bruce were all waiting there. They told me that Dad was only allowed one visitor at a time, and Pepper was with him now. They kind of used that as their excuse for hovering outside the door, but they were worried about me. And angry. I could tell.

Max wouldn't say anything, but he was furious with me. For pulling such a stupid stunt.

Then suddenly, just as everyone started crowding around me, smiling, I felt a sharp pain in my gut, like someone had stabbed me. I doubled over with a scream of pain, and staring at my shoes I saw something that nearly made me puke.

I was flickering, in and out of existence. One second there I was, the next all I could see below me was the floor and I felt numb. I looked up at the others, who were looking at me in horror. I held up my hand, watching myself flicker, like I was about to go out.

Then, for one terrifying moment, I flickered out of existence and didn't come back. Then someone called my name, and I snapped back. Lily was holding my arm, keeping me steady.

"Gods of Asgard, what was that?" She asked. I had never seen Lily worry about me before.

"I don't-that wasn't medical. She was okay." Dr. Cho said, looking shocked.

"I think I know what it was." Bruce said, and he looked grim. "This isn't good. I had hoped we would avoid this happening, but…"

"Isn't there anything we can do to prevent it?" Max demanded. Still noticeably not talking to me. "The time stream can be altered without changed the rest of history, right? A preventative paradox?"

Bruce shook his head. "I don't think so."

"What are you talking about?" Clint asked, looking just as confused as I felt.

"Yeah, stop with the nerd talk and explain this like normal human beings." Thomas said, sounding annoyed.

"Not until we check a hunch." Max said, he and Bruce already halfway out of the room. "Then we'll be sure. We have to make a phone call."

The rest of us looked at each other, confused. "I don't understand." I croaked. "What's happening to me?"  
"They'll figure this out." Steve assured me.

"Until then, _what were you thinking?"_ Lily demanded, letting go of my arm to glare at me. "You could've gotten yourself killed! Or Tony." I winced.

"I know… the wings malfunctioned. I don't know what-"

"Hey guys," Sam walked into the room. "My wings repaired yet?"

I cracked up.

 **AN: again, thanks to SupernaturalBaby2Life and I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover for your ideas. I used SupernaturalBaby4Life's idea in this chapter, and I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover's idea will be mentioned in the next chapter when I continue with the first idea. Thanks guys, without you I would've had no idea what to write about. Thanks for reading this story, and if you haven't yet please leave a review or follow/favorite. If you have an idea, send it, and I might use it the way I used theirs.**


	10. Maxwell Banner, say that again

**AN: I don't own the Avengers (yet). Please leave a review (ideas are welcome and may get used) or follow/favorite. Again, a huge thanks to SupernaturalBaby4Life and I-am-a-Ice-cream-lover for their ideas, both of which are getting used in this chapter. And thanks to everybody who sent in an idea or review, even if I didn't use yours.**

 **~Marina Stark~**

Jean, Thomas, and I watched disney movies while we waited for the Banner's to tell us what was going on. Natasha went and joined them, and all three of them talking quietly reminded me of how things were in our time.

Finally, they came back into the room. Natasha folded her arms and stood by the wall, but the Banner's stepped forward. Max turned off the TV.

"Hey!" I said, and Max shot me a glare. I recoiled.

Max had never been mad like this before, of that I was sure. He was our rock-he never got mad, always stayed calm, always understanding and kind. But now he was furious, and it was because of me. I felt just as bad about that as I did Dad being in the hospital. I had finally broken Max's control.

"Sorry," I muttered, but he was still mad.

"We figured out what made you fade like that for a minute." Max said grudgingly.

The other Avengers crowded around the couch where Jean, Thomas, and I were sitting. Eager to hear what had caused my break with reality.

"We called the hospital. Tony is in critical condition, but they think he's going to pull through." Bruce said. I felt more guilty then I ever had before, but was relieved to hear he would be okay. I looked down at my lap. "But earlier, they weren't so sure. His heart stopped for seventeen seconds, at exactly 9:23 this morning."

I felt like I was going to puke. I had almost killed my dad. Jean rested a reassuring hand on my arm, reading my thoughts. But her free hand was drawing on her jeans in silver sharpie.

"Also at 9:23 this morning, Marina nearly flickered out of existence." Bruce said, and I began to understand.

"Oh! Like _Back to the future_ , where he keeps his parents from meeting and he almost stops existing!" Thomas said excitedly.

"By almost killing Tony _before_ Pepper got pregnant with her, she almost prevented herself from being born. If Tony had been killed before Pepper got pregnant, then Marina would've fully disappeared, and our memories of her would also have been erased. It would've been like she had never been born in the first place. But since Tony came through, in the future Pepper still gets pregnant and has Marina, so Marina's still here." Bruce explained. "Like "back to the future"."

Max suddenly spun around and left the room, banging the door open and storming out. We stared after him for a moment, shocked, but I leapt up from the couch and followed.

"Max!" I called, following him down the hallway. We were far enough from the living room already that the rest of the Avengers wouldn't be able to hear our conversation. "Calm down!"

"Calm down? _Calm down?"_ Max spun around on his heel to glare at me. His dark brown eyes had turned green, and I took a step back in fear. I had never seen that before. "How can you tell me to _calm down?_ You almost _died_ , and then I would've forgotten that you ever existed, just for some stupid stunt!" I was shocked at the angry words. Max had never raised his voice before.

"But I didn't die!" I said.

Max glared at me. "This isn't a game, Marina! This isn't one of your stupid pranks, where everyone laughs and goes home okay! If Tony had died, you would've been _erased_. I would never even have known your name! And that is _not okay!_ " Yeah, his eyes were definitely glowing green.

"It was just for a little fun!" I yelled, getting mad right back. "It's not a thing to freak out about! And I'm okay, what's the big deal?"  
"You nearly got yourself erased, why don't you see how important this is?" Max yelled.

"Why do you care so freaking much?" I screamed. "Why do you even _care?_ "

"You still don't know, do you?" Max shouted. "You don't think about how you affect other people Marina! I can't lose you! I can't just forget about you!"

"Why the hell not?" I screamed. "It wasn't you, it was me! Why do you care so damn much?"  
"Because I love you!" Max yelled.

A stunned silence fell in the hallway. I felt like someone had stuffed my head full of cotton, stuck a fork in a light socket, and punched me between the eyes all in the same second. My face was hot, my thoughts running at a thousand miles per hour.

Had he really just said that? Had he? For real?

"Maxwell Robert Banner. Say. That. Again." I said, voice flat. I wasn't sure I wasn't dreaming, but I needed to hear him say it again.

"I-I sh-should go back to the lab and check on the-" Max turned and practically ran down the hallway, face bright red. He wasn't getting away that easily.

I tackled him to the floor so that I was sitting on his stomach, his arms pinned under my knees. I had one fist raised threateningly, prepared to break his nose. "Say that again."

"I love you." He whispered, the green totally gone from his eyes. He looked like he expected me to start swearing at him.

I stared at him, and he stared at me. I let him up, and we both scrambled to our feet. He eyed me warily, and I tried to decide what to do. I didn't know what to say, or do, or think.

Max hurried past me, leaving me with my feet stuck to the ground in the hallway. He rushed back into the living room. I stared at the wall and tried to think.

Max loved me. He did. He really really did, and all this time I hadn't understood. I remembered the look on his face whenever he looked at me, and knew that it had been stupid of me not to know.

But I also remembered how he sounded when he laughed, and how excited he got when he was working on a new project. I remembered when my Dad went missing for two days on a mission, and he hugged me and told me everything was going to be okay. I remembered how he made me eat when I was working late on a project, and how he always brought me flowers before I performed in the school talent show, and how the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled. I remembered how he made Dad apologize to me after our fight, and how he saved those kids from being crushed when we fought hurricane man, and how he woke up early to see the sun rise. I remembered him telling me how amazing I was when I won the science fair, and laughing with me at lunch, and defending me from Fury after one of my stupid stunts. I remembered how nice he looked when he went to the prom with some other girl, and that ugly unfamiliar feeling I had gotten when I saw them slow dance. I remembered signing his cast when he broke his arm in second grade, and playing hide-n-seek with him in the triskellion when we were little, and how excited I was whenever I saw him.

There was something else that I realized, then. Something I should've realized a long long time ago.

I spun around and ran into the living room. The Avengers were all still there, talking. Max stood in the middle of the carpet, talking to Steve with his back to me.

All eyes turned to me as I strode in. Steve quickly back pedaled away from Max, who turned to face me fearfully. I walked right up to Max, grabbed him by the collar to drag him down so our faces were level (he is five inches taller), and kissed him.

Everyone started cheering, but I hardly heard. I pulled away and said, "What're you doing going and kissing me like that, Banner?" I couldn't help but grin.

"You're full of shit, Stark." He mumbled, a dazed look on his face.

"Yeah, I am." And this time, he kissed me, his fingers getting tangled in my hair, my arms around his neck.

Thomas wolf-whistled, Jean clapped, and Lily said, "About time!"

And for once, I agreed with her.

 **AN: thanks for reading! If you haven't yet, please leave a review (ideas always welcome, and may get used) or follow/favorite.**


	11. Remembering

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. Thanks everybody who's reviewed or favorited or followed this story or any of my others. Also, sorry it's been awhile since I've updated! I have a bunch of other stories I'm working on, I just finished one of my other Avengers story's,** _ **Universal Gravitation.**_

 **~Max Banner~**

I didn't have anything to do. Marina had handcuffed Lily and Jean to the couch long enough to do mani-pedis. Thomas was binge-watching the Simpsons, and I had gotten sick of them after five episodes.

I could go down to the lab to work with dad and Tony, but Tony kept questioning me about "my intentions for his daughter" whenever I got within a thirty foot radius of him, so I decided against it.

I decided to train instead. But when I got down to the training room, I saw somebody else already there.

My mom whipped punches into the punching bag quickly and effortlessly, driving in a kick every now and then as well. I watched silently from the doorway, remembering when she taught me how to fight as a kid….

 _***flashback (technically forward, time travel is confusing)***_

 _Ten-year-old Max leaned against the railing of the porch, watching his mom lay out thick mats on the back lawn. She had let her red hair grow out just past her shoulders, and tied it in a ponytail as she looked up at her son. She still didn't smile much, but Max knew she cared about him. He could tell from the way she talked, and acted, and the happiness in her eyes._

" _Ready, Max?" She asked. Max nodded and scampered down the stairs to stand across from her on the mat._

" _I don't know how to do all of the stuff you do, though," Max said worriedly, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Even back then, he wore it shaggy, just past his ears._

" _Don't worry. I'm going to teach you." His mom said, handing a small pair of green boxing gloves. Her own boxing gloves were red. "You need to learn to control your strength, Max. So you don't hurt anybody on accident."_

" _I don't needa control my strength." Max said proudly. "I know how."_

" _Oh, really?" His mom raised an eyebrow and smirked the slightest bit. "Go ahead and try and hit me, okay?" She held up one hand. Max punched her hand softly, so she barely felt it. "You still have to go strong enough for me to be able to feel it. Strong, but not too strong, get it?"_

 _Max nodded. "As strong as you hit."_

" _Well, maybe just a bit softer then me."_

 _Max tried another punch, this time hitting just to hard so his mom stumbled back a bit. "Are you okay?" Max asked worriedly._

" _Don't worry, Max. Takes more then that to hurt me. Try again, okay?" His mom assured him. She turned and called to Max's dad who was sitting on the porch, reading a book. "And aren't you supposed to be making dinner, Dr. Banner?" She asked, raising an eyebrow._

" _I will." Max's dad nodded but didn't look up from his book. Max and his mom rolled their eyes at each other-they both knew his dad wouldn't make dinner. They would order something later, the way they always did on his nights to cook._

 _Max and his mom turned to face each other again, both raising their fists. "Try again, Max. Remember, keep control."_

 _***flashforward (technically backward, time travel is_ majorly _confusing)***_

Max decided not to bother her, leaving the room again silently. He wandered back upstairs to where his teammates were lounging in the living room, doing their nails and watching the Simpsons.

Max smiled, watching Marina try to talk Lily into hot pink fingernails. She was his favorite person in the word-ever since they were kids, and they would talk and laugh because they had nothing in common and everything all at the same time….

 _***flashback except also a flashforward***_

 _Nine-year-old Max sat under the huge oak tree in back of his house. They had two other trees, but nowhere as big as the old oak. He leaned against the rough bark, happily reading a book on his own. He didn't have many friends other then the other children of Avengers, and he wasn't very close to them._

 _The problem wasn't that people didn't like him. Everyone was sure that the kids at his school would like him, but it was just that he didn't want to talk to them. He didn't like them much, and he was happy by himself._

 _Suddenly he jumped as someone plopped down next to him under the tree. He glanced up sneakily, but quickly looked back at his book before she could notice._

 _It was Marina, her black curly hair tied in high pigtails even though she was nine. She wore black leggings and a denim skirt, and a white t-shirt and blue hoodie. Instead of the usual cheery and confident look on her face, she looked worried and glanced at him nervously every few seconds. She had a checkers board clutched in her hands._

 _They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, Max hoping she would go away and Marina hoping he would say something so she didn't have to._

" _Hi." Marina said finally. Max looked up from his book cautiously. She held out the chess set between them tentatively. "I was wondering if you wanted to play checkers?"_

 _Max hesitated. "I, um, don't actually know how to play checkers."_

 _Marina's eyes widened. "You don't? You gotta learn!" She set the checkers board between them, turning to sit criss-cross-applesauce on her side of the board. Max set his book down and turned to face her as well, feeling nervous and self-conscious. "You really never played before?"  
Max shook his head. "Uh, no. I play chess usually. Or just read." He motioned weakly to his book._

" _Everyone should know how to play this." Marina said. "Okay, so the pieces can jump diagonally, right? And the point is to get the other player's pieces off the board, so you jump their checkers and…." Marina explained how to play the game. When she was done they played in silence for a few minutes._

 _Finally Marina couldn't take the silence anymore. "Reading anything good?"_

 _Max nodded, and showed her his book as she jumped one of his pieces. "The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking. It's about-"_

" _Theoretical physics!" Marina said excitedly. "I know, I read it!"_

" _Really?" Max said curiously. "It's my favorite. I've already read it twice."_

" _You understand all of it?" Marina asked._

 _Max nodded. "I understand it. Do you?"  
_ " _Of course! I mean, I had to ask my dad about some of it." Marina admitted, a little embarrassed. "I've never met anyone else my age who's read that book."_

" _Me neither." Max said happily. "I didn't realize you were so into science."_

" _Duh!" Marina grinned. "When I'm old enough, I'm going to build my own Irongirl suit and be just like my dad!"_

" _Iron_ girl _?" Max asked._

" _That's what I'll call it. I don't want people thinking I'm a guy!"_

 _They started chattering away about the Ironman suit and theoretical physics and their favorite books and bands and TV shows. They didn't realize how long they had been talking until Pepper called from inside the house that dinner was ready. They looked down at their half-finished checkers game and realized they had forgotten all about it._

" _We'll finish another time." Marina said, waving it away. "We're going back to Malibu tomorrow, so-" Marina fished a pen out of her pocket and scrawled her phone number on Max's hand. "Text me, okay? Keep in touch?"_

 _Max nodded. "Of course."_

 _Marina grinned and jogged towards the house. Max paused for a moment, staring after her. He realized he was blushing and tried to stop. But he didn't think of Marina as a friend anymore… now she was something special. Even if she didn't realize it yet. And she wouldn't for many more years…._

 _***flashforward technically back***_

Max smiled a bit, remembering when he'd fist figured out his feelings for Marina. She was still the smart, proud, funny girl he'd fallen for when they were just kids. And she really had built the Irongirl suit she had dreamed about back then.

Next to Marina on the couch, Jean was using her own nail polish to draw swirly designs on a pad of paper. She had kind of spaced out, and was ignoring the other two superheroines. Max wished that Fury hadn't made her become an Avenger. They would get along fine without her, and she really was a talented artist.

 _***flashback sort of forward***_

 _Max, Marina, Lily, and Thomas sat around a table in the triskellion. Fury had called them there, but they didn't know why and they didn't know how long they would have to stick around. Fury was late._

 _Finally the door burst open and Fury came in in all his trench-coated eye-patch-wearing glory. And he was followed by… Jean? Jean was the only child of the Avengers that had no powers and hadn't become an Avenger. She was moving to Seattle to go to art school next week._

" _Jean?" Thomas asked, looking worried for his friend. Jean's eyes were puffy and she was twisting her hands together. And wearing a SHIELD jacket and black field uniform, which wasn't a good sign. "Fury, what's going on here?" Thomas sped up to lead Jean to the empty seat next to his._

" _This is the new Avenger I mentioned." Fury said. "Jean Rogers. New codename: Ms. America."_

 _We burst into protests. "You can't do that!" Marina shouted._

" _You can't make her!"  
_ " _Steve won't let you!"  
_ " _It's her choice!"_

" _How dare you, Fury!"_

 _Fury held up his hands to silence our protests, and after a minute we quieted. "The Avengers Initiative is going downhill. The public needs to see another young hero take up the title of Avenger, and it should be a name they know. The Rogers family has a duty to this country."_

" _Fury, you asshat, she's leaving for art school in two weeks!" Marina argued. "You can't just make her cancel everything for this."  
_ " _He already did." Jean said with a dry sob. "I'm not going. I have to stay here and be an Avenger with you guys."_

" _Fury, this is low even for you!" Lily shouted. "She's going, you can't stop her!"_

" _The original Avengers will back us up." I said calmly to Fury. "Then you would have a bunch of rogue heroes trying to bring you down, Fury. That would cause chaos and doubt in your system. You don't want that."  
_ " _No, guys," Jean said, wiping away her tears. "I have to do this. It will work out."_

" _Jean, he can't force you to-"  
_ " _I have to do this." Jean repeated. "And I'll still do art. Just… I'll also be an Avenger."_

 _***back to our time***_

I walked into the living room, bored enough to settle for the Simpsons. "Hey, man," Thomas said, leaping out of his seat and running to the kitchen and back in a flash. He handed me a soda and sat back down. "Thought you'd be back. Have a good time?"

I smirked. "Always do."


	12. You gotta be kidding

**AN: Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated, I've been really busy with stuff. Plus, I wasn't sure where this story should be going. But now I think I know. I've been writing chapters that are pretty much just connected one-shots, but now I'm going to take us back towards our plot.**

 **~Jean Rogers~**

Three days later, we were still waiting. There wasn't as much to do around the tower as you'd think. I worked on my painting every time I could get away from the others-I added in three more figures. Thomas (on a dare from Marina) stuck an entire pan of brownies in his mouth at once. Max and Marina worked in the lab with their dads. Natasha trained with Lily, and the rest of the past Avengers did Avenger-y things. It was boring.

Lily, Thomas, Dad (Steve), and I were playing minecraft. Actually, Lily, Thomas, and I were trying to teach _Dad_ how to play minecraft. It was pretty funny, and Dad had just had his little character fall into lava for the umpteenth time, when the Starks and the Banners rushed in with such serious looks on their faces we knew something was up.

"Did you find something on the time-warp thingy?" Thomas asked, closing the laptop Dad had been playing minecraft on.

"We finished it." Bruce said. His face was turned in a worried frown. "We turned it on, too. We know who the time anomaly is."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lily demanded. "Let's go stop it."

"Wait-" I said, realizing Bruce's phrasing. "Did you say _who_ the time anomaly is?"

They nodded. Marina looked up at the ceiling and called, "JARVIS, call the entire team to the main living room, please."

" _Certainly, Miss Stark._ " JARVIS said.

A few minutes later, the rest of the past and future Avengers were gathered in the living room. A few people sat down, but most remained standing. The grim mood made me wish I was in my room, working on my painting.

"What's the problem?" Clint asked. "We just have to find the time anomaly and shut it down."

"Not that simple anymore, Katniss." Tony said, shaking his head. Even joking and leaning against the couch, he looked serious. Well, as serious as Tony Stark ever got. "The time anomaly is linked to a group of people."

"The time anomaly is people? Who?" Natasha asked.

"Us." Max said grimly. He and Marina sat side-by-side on the couch. He rubbed his eyes with one hand tiredly. "The future Avengers caused the time anomaly by coming back at all."

"We're the time anomaly?" Lily groaned. "What do we do? What _can_ we do?"

"There's only one thing we can do, but we _won't._ " Marina said. She had been staring at her clenched fists on her knees, but now she looked up at the others with a determined flash in her eyes. "The only way we could end the time anomaly is to travel to our time, and warn Fury not to send us back."

"But if we do that," Max added. "Nothing that's happened since we came here will be true. It will never have happened."

"We can't do that." Marina finished. "We have to find another way."

"There is no other way," Bruce shook his head. "I know you two wouldn't be a couple if we kept you from coming back, but-"

"That's not the only thing!" Lily burst out. "Won't us telling Fury not to send us back in the first place start another time anomaly?"

"Not if Fury thinks it's the future versions of us that warned him." Tony explained. "So it should be someone from the future Avengers team, since us old-timers probably look different twenty years in the future. Except me, of course."

"We can't do this!" Max protested. He gripped Marina's hands, making her unclench them. She did relax a little bit, but she still looked angry. Max's eyes flashed green for a moment, and I almost took a step back in shock, but the green disappeared in a moment. I was still shocked-I had never seen that before. "There's too much risk!"

"This is stupid," Thomas argued. "There's a danger Fury will become a time anomaly, too! We should look for another option!"

"Jean," Dad turned to look at me. "What do you think?"

 _I think this is why Fury brought me onto the team._ I said inside my head. But on the outside I just said, "We should find another way." But this was it, I was sure. The reason Fury had brought me onto the team in the first place-this was it.

 _Flashback_

" _Fury, what's this about?" I demanded. Usually, I wouldn't snap at the director of SHIELD, but today he was on my nerves. Today he had had two agents pick me up in the middle of my favorite class, drag me to his office, toss me inside and tell me to wait (two hours ago, I might add), all without an explanation. Fury had just come in, and I wanted answers. "I have a life, unlike some people."_

 _Fury didn't even react to the insult. He moved behind his desk and stared me down with his one good eye. Even standing, he was taller then me (which was annoying). "You're here for a very important reason, Ms. Rogers."_

" _Like what?" I asked, deflating a little. "Are my parents okay?"  
_ " _They're fine. This isn't about them, it's about you." Fury said._

" _I didn't do anything wrong. Whatever it was, check with Marina."_

" _I want you to be an Avenger."_

" _I-" I stopped. I didn't want to be an Avenger. I was the only child of the original Avengers that hadn't volunteered to take their parent's place. I was the only one that wanted a normal life. And I wouldn't back down without a fight. "I won't. I'm leaving." I spun around, storming towards the door._

" _You're the only one who can save us." Fury said suddenly, softly. I stopped. I might not want to be an Avenger, but I'm not so different from my parents. Somebody needs help, I have to try and help. I firmly instructed myself to keep walking, but Fury was talking again. "The rest of the new Avengers can't do it. Marina is too much of a hot-head, and Max… we don't know the extent of the inheritance from his father. Besides, there's too much going on between them. Lilian might complain, but given the choice she would still die for her teammates, not do the right thing. Thomas we aren't sure of, but he is immensely loyal to his mother and friends, and probably wouldn't do the right thing either. You're the only one that can do what has to be done."_

" _What has to be done?"_

" _I don't know. You weren't very clear when you told me."_

 _I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean I told you?"_

" _Not_ you." _Fury said, as if I was being stupid. "The Avengers Initiative is going downhill. The public needs to see another young person take up the title of Avenger, and it should be a name they know. You have a duty to this country."_

" _I'm leaving for art school! You can't make me do this." But I had a feeling that I would. Something about Fury's face and voice-he was sure it could only be me. Fury, the great director Fury, needed my help. That realization shocked me._

" _There is no body else who can do this." Fury told me, his face a mask of steel._

" _Do what?"_

" _You'll know when the time comes."_

The time had come, and I knew. I was the only one who could do what had to be done, but my stomach hurt a little just thinking about it. I would have to lie to my friends, steal a time machine, and risk tearing the universe apart to talk to Fury. Of course, if I didn't do this, then the universe was definitely doomed. I had to.

Thomas smiled at me trustingly, grateful for my support. That only made me feel guiltier, so I looked away.

"We have to do this." Natasha argued softly. She didn't seem to like the idea much either.

"Well we've waited this long and nothing has happened." Max said. "The time rift should stay steady unless we change something big. So as long as we keep a low profile, we can take as long as we need to find another solution."

Marina nodded enthusiastically. The past Avengers glanced at each other. "We just need to keep from causing alien invasions or building evil robots. And we would never do that!" Tony grinned. "C'mon, guys, just a few more days and we'll have something."

 _We might not have a few more days,_ I thought. But I kept it to myself.

"Alright." Steve gave in. "One more week, then we'll use the time machine."

"Two weeks." Thomas argued. "They just need time, cap. We can't mess with the timestream any more then we already have."

"A week and a half." Steve consented. "That's how long you get. Then we use the time machine to travel forward and warn Fury." Max and Marina squeezed each other's hands, glancing at each other nervously. One and a half weeks might not be enough, we all knew. But that was already too long. Too risky. I would have to steal the machine and go as soon as I could make myself.

"Thanks, capsicle." Tony grinned. "We're on it."

 _So am I._ I thought. _And I'm really sorry._

 **AN: What do you think of this idea? There's probably… fourish chapters left in this story? Maybe five, depending. Reviews, please.**


	13. End the World to be With You

**AU: Hi! Don't own the Avengers (the crowd gasps, because of them are really surprised!). Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in so long… like for six months… um. Awkward. Sorry about that.**

 **(Don't look at me like that! You make me feel like a huge jerk!)**

 **Anyway, I think there's only two or three more chapters left in this story, so I really really will make an effort to write them (I know I've said that before, but this time I** _ **actually mean it**_ **).**

 **EVERYONE WHO'S READING THIS NEEDS TO READ THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE: DOCMUSE IF YOU EVER READ THIS UPDATE YOUR STORIES ALREADY! (And, doc, yes, I know that was super hypocritical. Shut up.)**

 **Okay, now we can start.**

Jean sat up in the dark, leaning her head against the headboard of her bed. She rubbed her eyes. She tugged on her braids. She yanked a string out of the sleeve of her pajamas. But she couldn't make herself stand up, walk to the door, make herself do what she had to do.

She had to betray her friends. She had to steal from them, and lie to them, and hurt them. She had to because there was no other choice, and she had to because nobody else could. Time was a never ending loop, and she would do it eventually, just like every Jean Rogers did in every timeline.

Jean looked at the TV screen hanging on one wall of the dark guest bedroom. "Jarvis?" She called softly. "Are you, um, there?"

"Yes, Ms. Rogers." Jarvis said politely. "I am always here."

"Great. Okay." Jean nodded. She considered her question, tugging on another thread from her pajamas. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Ms. Rogers?"

"Do you feel emotions? Do you have… friends? Family? Are the Avengers your friends and family?"

Jarvis didn't answer for a minute, and Jean thought she might've broken him. "In a manner of speaking, Ms. Rogers. Mr. Stark programmed me with several rudimentary emotions to be used in certain situations-"

"I mean do you like things?" Jean interrupted, getting impatient.

"I suppose so, Ms. Rogers. I like Mr. Stark being safe, as well as Ms. Potts. The Avengers are under my care, as is everyone in this tower."

"Okay." Jean said. Somehow, talking to a disembodied voice in the dark in the middle of the night was making her feel better. "Do you like _me_?"

"Yes, Ms. Rogers."

"Would you still like me if I did something everyone thought was bad, but really it was good, because I had great reasons? Would you trust that I did the right thing?"

"It depends on what you did." Jarvis answered. "Ms. Rogers, you seem distressed. Would you like me to wake one of the others? Your father, maybe? I am sure he would be happy to talk to-"

"No." Jean interrupted again, stubbornly. "If I stole something, if I did something that might get people hurt but overall would save a lot of people, what would you say?"

"I'd say you spend entirely too much time with the Stark family."

Jean smiled. "Jarvis, was that a joke?"

"Indeed. Probably a bug in my programming… I'll have Mr. Stark look into it."

"Don't." Jean said, making herself climb out of bed. She started getting dressed in street clothes. Jeans covered in sharpie doodles, a white t-shirt, a jacket. "Promise me you won't?"

"I promise, Ms. Rogers. Is what you are planning to do directly dangerous to any inhabitants of this tower? Because if it is, I am programmed to immediately alert Mr. Stark, Mr. Rogers, and Ms. Romanoff."

"It's not." Jean lied. Lied? _Was_ that a lie? She didn't even know.

Jean opened her bedroom door and crept into the hallway. It was dark and silent. Everywhere was dark and silent but where she was. She walked past the doors of her friends, but paused when she saw light beneath Max's door. She leaned her ear against it, not usually an eavesdropper but wondering if he was okay.

There was a whispered argument going on inside. "It's too big of a risk for us to take, Marina." Max was saying. "We can't do it."

"I agree. I'm just saying maybe there's some way we can keep too much from changing, maybe if-"

Jean tiptoed away. They had clearly been arguing that all day, and into the night.

She went up two floors in the elevator, to Tony's lab. It was empty but for a robot, Dum-E. Dum-E had turned the TV on, and was watching _Top Gear._ Jean thought he might've even been making little vroom-vroom noises. They stared at each other guiltily.

"I won't say anything if you don't," Jean told him. Dum-E turned back to the TV, apparently satisfied.

Jean found the table with the time machine carefully placed on it. They had left it there since they had come back, mostly ignored. She stared at it sadly.

"How does this thing work…?" She ran her hands over it, hoping for a button or a lever or an instruction manual. She found a small panel on the side, with several buttons and switches, and a big red friendly button that Jean knew better then to push. She figured out how to enter a date and a time into the machine-there was a little screen. She winced with every beep the buttons made.

"Ms. Rogers, I have alerted Mr. Banner and Ms. Stark that you are currently tampering with the time device." Jarvis reported. Jean almost knocked the time machine off the table and onto her foot.

"Jarvis," She hissed. "Shut up! Keep them out-try and-Jarvis, lock all the doors. Lock them out!" There was no point in keeping her voice down now, so she shouted. "Make them go away!"

"I can't do that, Jean. I'm sorry, but Mr. Stark told me especially that nobody was to be allowed to time travel. I alerted the other awake Avengers as protocol stated."

The light over the elevator turned on, showing the floor it was on. Max and Marina would be here in fifteen seconds, twenty at best. Jean fumbled with the controls, panickedly trying to start the thing.

She jabbed her thumb into the red button, and nothing happened. She tried again. "Jarvis, lights!" The lights came on politely and she stared at the machine, hoping for anything at all that would get here when she needed to go.

The elevator doors opened. Max and Marina ran towards her, then faltered when they saw her with her hands on the time machine. "Jean, what are you doing?" Max demanded. "You know what'll happen if you use that thing!"

"I know that what'll happen is what's supposed to happen." She said, spotting a lever on the top of the machine. It was labeled in pink sharpie: _safety!_ "I have to do this, I'm sorry."

"Jean, please," Marina pleaded, taking a tentative step forward. "Please, we just need some more time. We can still… we can still find a better way. We at least need a plan! You can't do this on your own!"

"I need to." Jean said. She flipped the safety switch, and both of the other stiffened. "Look, I… I'm sorry. I wish…" She looked at them, staring at her with fear and anger. Betrayal. She had never felt worse. "I wish there was another way, but there isn't, and I think deep down you two know that. Just…" Her finger hovered over the red button. "Try to understand." She pressed the button, and the next minute everything was white.

Her ears popped painfully. The feeling of being squeezed worsened and worsened, until she felt like one of those cartoon characters that got an anvil dropped on them. She had stuck a fork in a light socket once when she was little, and there was some of that feeling, too. She tried to speak, tried to breath, tried to _scream_ , but she couldn't.

Then it ended, and she was standing in the living room of Stark Tower. A fully-repaired New York sat cheerfully out the window. The walls were hung with punk-rock posters, the floor was covered in trash, the TV was to muted PBS.

It was good to be back.

Marina Stark definitely lived here, no doubt about it. As Jean looked around, she spotted a photo framed and sitting on a shelf. She glanced at it-a group photo with **Avengers** written across the top in pen. Jean wasn't in the photo. She could see Marina, Max, Lily, Thomas. But not her… so this was the right time.

Jean headed for the elevator. She needed to find Fury.

 **~Marina Stark~**

Everyone was gathered in the living room, mostly in pajamas and flip-flops with bed-head and sleepy eyes. Lily had her breastplate and battle-axe sheath on over a pair of footie pajamas she seemed to be a little embarrassed about.

"What's going on?" Steve demanded. "Where's Jean?"

"She took it." Max said, rubbing his face with his hands. He looked defeated. I felt as bad as he looked-like any minute I would either cry or start screaming and breaking things. "She took the time machine. She's gone. We saw her disappear."  
"Why would she do that?" Tony demanded. "Why would she-"  
"Because she's _Jean._ " Thomas said bitterly. His hands were in his pockets, his head lowered so his hair fell in front of his eyes. "She always does the goddamn right thing."

"But we could've found another way," Bruce said, looking desperate. "We can still stop her."

"Maybe…." Steve hesitated. "Maybe we should let her go. Maybe she should just do it-maybe-"  
"It's very true that her way might turn out to be the only way." Natasha said. She was the only one fully-dressed, like she hadn't been asleep when they'd called everyone down. "But we don't know that. We should try something else first-anything."  
"It's too late, anyway-" I burst out, unable to listen to them stupidly talk like we could do anything, like there was chance left. "We can't stop her. She's already gone, and it's not like we can catch up by going eighty-eight miles per hour, there's nothing we can _do_ except wait for something to happen."

A thick silence wound between us all. Max's hand folded over mine, and I felt again like I might cry. I didn't want to lose him. I desperately didn't want to lose him-but I felt so cruelly selfish. How could I risk the world just for me?  
I glanced at him. Shaggy black hair slipping from behind his ear and into dark eyes. Too-big green t-shirt and plaid pajama pants.

I could risk the world for _us._ I would have. I would have in a minute. But it was too late-Jean was gone. Now it was time for her to decide our fate. And I had the worst feeling that she wouldn't change her mind.

 **AU: So this chapter was a little more tense. I've been working on my angsty writing, not just fluff, and I wanted to use some of that in this fic. Hope you liked it. Please favorite/follow/review. I'll post the next chapter sooner then I did this one, I swear!**


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